Worst Day Since I have had Hair Again...

Ok - So I have not forgotten that I promised a post about what awesome gem I had learned from a sweet friend that I wanted to pass on and so it could be like waves of an ocean - traveling to who ever needed the information next. However, we had a traumatic thing happen here on Monday night that spilled over into Tuesday and it has just taken me a bit to recovery.

Monday evening I had been in my sewing room - watching a "Living Alaska" program and working on a sewing project I have been working on. Somewhere about 7:45 - 8:00pm area- I was thirsty and decided to go get water- as I walked through the dining room to get to the kitchen, I heard a weird noise and walked out into our sunroom - looking out the window I noticed 2 dogs in my chicken pen. I ran out the back door to the gate and opened it and as kindly as I could- trust me this was only from God- I was able to coax the dogs out of that part of our yard. As I surveyed the yard- there were feathers every where- in the middle of the back yard I could see a black and white chicken laying all crumbled up. As soon as the dogs ran to the back of our yard and squeezed themselves out of our yard - I ran inside to get my husband - who had been taking a shower. He had not realized that the dogs were out of the yard already so he came running out with a gun- to use if needed.

It was quickly getting dark outside - and we got flashlights and tried to round up our chickens to check them all out. My husband went to the one in the middle of the back yard and found it's wing all bent around and luckily he was able to pull it out and around so that the chicken could get up and be alright- of course the back end of it had most of its tail feathers gone. He carried her to the chicken coop. We found a few hiding in the corners of the yard here and there and urged them to the coop. As my husband was looking behind the chicken coop he found a little black chicken who had died. I had two of my black and white chickens just standing by and in the little pool an I carefully carried them to the coop. After we had all the chickens that we could find to the coop - we began counting the chickens and realized that we had some missing. So we started looking up in the trees- we found 4 of them up in the trees and left them there - as they like to roost up there anyway. After another count we knew we still had 4 missing. So we went outside of the wooden fence into our neighbors yard to look for the missing girls. We found Jester- one of our easter egg chickens up in a tree just outside of our yard. We carefully carried her to the coop. We looked and looked and could not find any more chickens.

We spend probably 2- 2 1/2 hours out looking for the chickens. And you would not believe how hot it was- I was so surprised because it usually cools off when the sun goes down but it was quite warm out there.

On the opposite side of the yard - our fence that we share with the MHMR home next door- has had some slats missing. And my son who had come and helped us look for chickens - said he thought that the dogs got into our back yard through that hole - and then had found a place under our fencing that divides our yard into a 1/3rd section that is just for the chickens. So I said I certainly wanted to replace the slats ASAP. He had his flashlight and while he was looking for our missing chickens in that yard next door, he noticed that there was a pile of slats that had fallen down and the mowers had just piled them up. So at 9:30-10:00pm - he got out there and nailed those slats back up. We are still missing one here and there - but at least dogs can't get through. We are planning on going to get slats to fill in the holes around the yard.

Anyway so I had the hardest time getting to sleep that night. I felt SO bad for my chickens - I really enjoy having chickens and they are part of the family. I like being able to provide a chicken haven for them and just knowing how traumatized they were really upset me. I finally got to sleep but woke up a couple hours later to use the bathroom and just could not go back to sleep for the longest time. And of course once I was finally awake it was not long till the alarm went off. I had been looking forward to the sun coming out - because then I would be able to take food out to my chickens and see if any more had shown back up - one of the chickens a black one flew down from a tree that we had checked and checked but had not seen him there. I was so thankful to have her back accounted for.
Then I went to the neighbors yard - hoping to find the 2 buff chickens and the black and white one that was still missing. I did not find the buff chickens but there was the black and white chicken- and I was SO happy to see her. I thought she would run right to me and let me get her - boy was I wrong. It took me 1 - 2 hours of wrangling to get her in the yard.

But I forgot to mention another thing that happened that just added to my stress. So while we are outside on Monday night trying to access the damage and take care of our chickens - we noticed Bandit- the small black and white kitten that we have had hanging around since he was born several months ago, had not been out. Usually if we are out for a while he will come out. But we did not see him. We did see his momma - Lenny though. Well Tuesday morning when I went out to let chickens out and to feed the chickens and Lenny and Bandit. Bandit did not come to eat. I heard his meows though. So I began looking for him. I looked and looked and thought ok - maybe he is on the outside of the fence- which would be our driveway. So I went out there. Then he meowed again and I looked up - and guess where he was?

Yes - at the very top of the pole. He wanted down but couldn't get down. So there was another problem to take care of- at this point only the black chicken has shown back up. And I still needed to go look for the other three.

I called the fire dept. And about 20 minutes later- (I was trying to get chicken in the yard during this time) they showed up. They did not even bring truck up into driveway, but parked on the street. They said because it was a power line there was nothing they could do but spray water up there and hope to encourage the cat to climb down. After just a few minutes of trying Bandit took off running down the pole and then jumped- I am surprised he is did not get hurt- it was a long ways up there. 

So now that he was down it was time for me to get busy trying to coax the black and white chicken back into our yard. I could tell she wanted to get back into the yard- she kept looking at the top of the fence- they are like 6 ft tall fencing. And she went to a couple of spots that had a bit bigger gap between the fence panels. And finally I got her back into the yard. I then walked around the circle neighborhood behind my house looking to see if I could find our 2 buff chickens that were still missing with no luck.

Not only did my chickens feel traumatized but I felt traumatized as well. It was very emotional for me. I check on my chickens periodically throughout the day just to make sure they are alright. They seem to be recovering. They are moving a bit faster than they were yesterday. Yesterday they were laying around and moving kind of slow.

We have worked to try to make their pen a much safer place for them. There is still a little work we want to do but slowly it is getting there.

So we are officially down to 23 chickens- we lost 1 black one and 2 buffs(yellow) chickens. And we have several they have most of their tail feathers gone- but thankfully they will recover. And so will we.

Anyway I will do my best to have that post up by tomorrow. I hope you all are doing well. :)