Then There Were 13

We love our girls... besides them being a really good egg producers for our family, they are also our friends.  The kids run around with them, they will come sit on our laps and eat out of our hands.  We love that we have been able to let our chickens free range... they have their own coop and sizeable run on the side of our home, but when we are here, we love to let them run free.

Last Friday, they were doing what they do best...foraging in my flowerbeds... and Blake and I were sitting at our bar, and we saw them run across the yard in a panic, but we didn't think much of it... they have done it before when our neighbor turns on his welder or if Kona gets a wild hair and decides to run at them.  We actually laughed and thought they looked funny.  Not long after, Blake went outside to feed his favorite chicken, Gonzo.  He couldn't find her.

Gonzo never leaves our back yard.  She has never wandered down our dirt road or into our neighbors yard.  She has never tried to fly over a fence or run away from us.  The kids and I looked for her for 2 hours.  I was in and out of my neighbors properties, in every nook and cranny of our property and I was starting to really wonder what had happened to her.  All the chickens come running to me when I call them, and it was very unlike her to just be gone.

As we were walking home up our dirt road, I saw it... I knew what had happened.  There were two HUGE black hawks circling my remaining girls in the backyard, and I just ran towards them.  The kids and I were able to get the chickens all locked up in their coop, while my kids screamed at the Hawks to " leave my chickens alone or my daddy will shoot you"  I couldn't believe how low they were... but after that, I know exactly what happened to her.  They circled our house for about 30 minutes before they moved on, and I am terrified that they will come back looking for their next meal!!

I started second guessing myself, could a hawk really pick up a chicken?  Just YouTube it... yes they can!  Crazy!!  My girls have never had to worry about predators... but all that has changed now.  Our poor chicken.  She was our favorite... She was our ugliest, smallest, but most loving chicken.  The boys went out to hold her every morning, and when I would go out to sit on the back steps and watch the boys play, she would just come and sit in my lap (I usually had food) haha.  But now she is gone, and we have learned a very valuable lesson.  Super sad, my kids really miss her, and my remaining 13 girls haven't laid more then 3 eggs a day since she was taken.  Their obviously also mourning the loss of their dear friend...

Rest in peace our sweet Gonzo, the smallest, sweetest chicken with a face that only a mama could love!!

A face only a mother could love

 

Gonzo and Twin 1 sleeping on the ladder

Her first day in the coop :)