We’ve had our fair share of challenges with our flock of chickens. Between opossums, raccoons and foxes, we’ve lost more of our original flock of birds than we would have ever expected.
It’s a frustrating dilemma to want to provide the birds with as much free-range opportunity as possible, but simultaneously watch the natural order of these animals in action.
Without much solution to the problem, we do know that we want to continue to raise chickens and harvest eggs. So, it’s time to add new birds to the flock in hopes that we can boost security, deter the culprits and keep our flock going through the year ahead.
Today, the farmer added our not-quite-chicks-anymore to the henhouse. They’ll spend a couple of days caged in the run and roosting with the remainder of the old flock. Once they all learn the pecking order and understand that the coop provides food and shelter, they’ll start free-ranging with the other birds daily.