Fallen

(The fallen phoebe nest, woven of soft horse hair and pine needles and covered with green moss.)

We had strong winds and pounding rains on this weekend. Sadly the wind blew down the phoebe nest in the little barn and the 4 babies died of exposure before I found them.

On top of that, a raccoon strong armed his way into the upstairs of the chicken coop Saturday night and decapitated every one the Ameracauna chicks. Very disappointing and an upsetting way to start Sunday morning. Terry and I are both kicking ourselves because we were confident the coop was secure. We have had it for for two years and this has been the first problem with it. It looked like the coon actually pried on the door until the plywood snapped then wedged his way in, leaving plenty of fur on the wood. We are fortunate that we had blocked off the opening to the downstairs, to give the Ameracuanas some privacy, otherwise the adult chickens might all be dead too. Normally the adult chickens would roost up there at night.


Terry really liked these chicks and I was looking forward to pretty colored eggs. We may try to get some more. The worst part is they were from someone Terry works with and he is raising the other half of the batch as pets.

(Right now I really hate raccoons--someone remind me what purpose they serve other then to eat Nemo's food and kill our chickens?)

At the rate I loose chicks, I should start some kind of chicken memorial. In 2008 I lost 4 three week old Black Astrolourps to a raccoon. In 2009 it was 5 Buckeyes between one day old to 6 weeks old to natural and unknown causes. This year it is the Ameracauanas at 4 weeks old to another raccoon. In fact, the only chicks that have survived into adulthood are the California whites.