Chicken pen

It has been a while since we provided a chicken update! Earlier this summer we gave away two roosters on Craigslist to a very nice lady who somehow ended up with all hens. UNR (ooooo-ner or UnNamed Rooster) was our Barred Rock insurance. We ordered two males in case one of them didn't make it to maturity. 

As they got older, it became pretty obvious which Rooster we'd be keeping. Alby (like, "white" and the dude from Big Love, and sometimes Albus) was a terror to UNR and Fuzzy Longbottoms (who was a boy) so we figured he'd be the best protection for his hens. He is a great rooster with firm control over all situations.

A few weeks ago an immature Red Tailed Hawk hit one of the hens and killed her. We had been letting the chickens roam in their fenced in area without incident and were very impressed with Alby's ability to get all the hens in the coop when a large bird was in the area. The Red Tail, however, had been planning for a very long time and was extremely patient. He hit the hen when she was near the fence and, when she ran back into the coop to get away, he the hawk followed her right in. When we got home the hawk, the dead hen, and two others (who were seriously freaking out) were inside the coop. Alby had the rest of the ladies huddled near a fence corner as far from the coop as they could be.

So Bill built the chickens a little pen with a roof. They have a lot less space, but, you know, they aren't dead.