Sad Goodbye to Some Pet Chickens

We had some sadness around here last week.

Here's the heartrending story
and what these plucky little gals taught me...

Two of our beautiful backyard hens 
were taken by a coyote -- 

in broad daylight, no less.

We did not get fancy with their names
when we brought them home 21 weeks ago.

We called them Buff, Red, Lacy and Gertrude.

Having never kept chickens before,

I had no idea I'd love them SO much!

I handled these little cuties daily since

bringing them home

as hatchlings.

Buff in particular was a sweetie.

She loved to cuddle!

I'd pick her up and she'd snuggle 

right into my neck and nestle there, 

making contented little sounds.

She did that even when she got big.

Red liked being petted.

She was friendly and social. 

She would come running for love and attention,

and she was our very first egg-layer of the crew

...but she was not a cuddler.

Both chickens got along well

with their coop mates,

a lacy wyandotte and a plymouth barred rock

whose names are Lacy and Gertrude respectively.

Gertrude was given a real name

...but that story will come later.

The girls are kept in a coop with an 
added covered fenced-in area.

For a portion of the day when

we're home, they are allowed to roam

in the yard to forage for bugs and grasses.

They LOVE that!

We are aware there are all kinds of wildlife

in these parts. Coyotes included.

You can see some photos in

posts on that here and here.

But what I read said coyotes and 

most other predators hunt at

night, and around dawn and dusk.

I got home after my hubby that day

and called for my chicks.

They always come running 
for some lovin when I call.

Nobody came.

Hmmm... strange.

I went inside and said something to hubby.

We went outside and I called again.

This time Lacy came flying straight toward us.

She had never flown that far and fast before.

She got to the patio and seemed fine.

Lacy is the Diva of the group and though 
she's a sweetie she does not like to be touched.

She occasionally wanders from the group.
She seemed ok, but she started

cackling loudly.

"That's right, Lacy," I joked. "Call your sisters in!"

I decided to get her rounded back into her coop and then got to doing a chore back inside.

I didn't realize that hubby went out 

and strolled the perimeter.

When he came back inside, the look on his face

made me feel like I would throw up.

"They're gone," he said, head bowed.

I just stood there trying to process it.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"They're gone," he repeated softly. "Something got them."

I paused in shock for a moment.

"WHAT??? All of them??? Noooo!!!!" I cried. 
"You've got to show me now!"

He took me to a pile of feathers

and I knew right away it was Red.

The feathers of her beautiful little "skirt" were

spread across the grass and in the creek.

I wept bitterly.  

Walking toward the creek, 

I spotted some of the striped feathers

that were the delicate semi plume of Gertrude. 

I cried harder.

Picking up some feathers and
trying to survey the area through my tears, I said,

"But this is only Red and Gertrude.

Buff's feathers are not in here!"

My hubby looked doubtful, but

I immediately started combing the area, 

calling for Buff.

We walked and walked. 

And then hubby pointed near a log.

Buff's feathers.

No.

My heart literally ached.

Three out of the four of my girls gone.

I wept openly, not caring if a neighbor heard.

I loved those beautiful, funny, interesting, 
charming little birds.

As much as I've loved my cats or dogs.

Really.

Chickens can do that for you.

Maybe not if you keep them

in huge flocks on factory farms.

But if you keep them and nurture them

in small numbers so that

you really get to know them and their ways,

so that you appreciate with every fiber

of your being the eggs they so generously give 

and the personality each one so clearly displays...

if you do that, they will

steal. your. heart.

Sobbing, I started walking

the ground to see if there were

anything else. 

All we had seen were feathers.

And now I felt the anger rising up.

"How could it take ALL THREE??!!" I sobbed.

"How GREEDY!!! I just can't believe it.

How GREEDY!" I repeated.

My hubby just quietly and sympathetically

walked next to me.

We came back around to the

chicken coop,

and a part of my brain saw it

even as I registered that

my husband was pausing in wonder...

I looked where he was looking....

Gertrude.

Gertrude!!

Standing dazed between the rake and the coop, 

there was Gertrude, blending in

beautifully with the rake.

I breathed in with gratitude.

Mindful not to scare her by moving

too quickly, I said in a gentle, soothing tone:

"Gerty... Hi girl."

I knelt down and she walked toward me.

I looked at hubby.

"It took me a minute to really believe what I was seeing," he said.  "It was like seeing a ghost or something."

I nodded and gently ushered our

girl into the covered fenced yard, checking her as best I could.

Definitely some feathers missing from

her breast. One wing drooped forlornly. 
Lacy came over to gently cluck

and reassure Gerty.  It was really

Lacy that helped bring Gerty out of her shock.

As I saw them interact and

saw Lacy encourage Gerty to do

her chicken things, like walk

the coop and get some water,

I saw Gertrude settle back into herself.

I did some gentle healing touch

with her and she enjoyed it.

She started acting more like herself again.

But it was starting to get late,

and the girls were tired.

I prayed she was not internally injured

and that she'd make it,

and put them to bed.

Thinking about the scene of their demise,

I noted that there were comparatively fewer of Gertrude's feathers.

I thought maybe I had seen fewer of Buff's feathers, too. So I walked the area again calling for Buff. But when I made the rounds and 
looked near the log again

I saw that I was wishful thinking.

There were just too many feathers.

I focused on my gratitude

for having Gertrude back.

My anger began to dissolve as I thought

about the amazing coyote I encountered years ago...

about all the coyote pictures I've seen...

about their pups...

I know this is just nature's way.

Our wildlife cam recorded a coyote 
on our property that day.
We will change some of what we're doing

with our flock.

We know

there are no guarantees.

I reflected on the several losses 
in our families recently,
and upon the love and open heartedness
that make a loss keenly felt.

But, oh the joy 
of a loving and open heart!

Buff and Red:

Thank you for teaching us that

chickens can nuzzle,

that they love to do the 

chicken scratch dance,

that they purr ecstatically when taking a dirt bath,

that they are very sensitive and attuned

social creatures, 
and that

you can love a chicken

like any other pet.

To Buff and Red.

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