Last March, Michael and I purchased 20 chicks to fulfill our egg needs. We have spent much time since March providing them with all the things that chickens need. We are just now beginning to get enough eggs to really be able to use them. Before this last month, I was hoarding the eggs for my homemade breads. It has been so nice to have enough eggs to finally be able to cook breakfast for our family and still be able to make bread later in the day. Well, today that all came to an end. We have an English Mastiff puppy that is 10 months old. She is very much a part of our family, but Michael has been requesting her to stay outside a bit more. I went to town today and I left her outside to enjoy the sunshine. I came back to find her in her usual spot on the front porch. After coming in the house, I encouraged my daughter to go outside with the 2 year old to play. Moments after going outside she was back in the house. She wanted to tell me that there was a dead chicken in the side yard. (Not good). I told her to go to the other side of the yard and we would clean it up shortly. She quickly came back inside announcing the fact that the other side yard was covered in dead chickens. (REALLY NOT GOOD). I am not a farm girl by birth so I don't do dead things very well. To be honest, I don't do dead things at all. I rounded up my boys to investigate. It appears that the sweet darling mastiff puppy is nothing more than a cold blooded chicken killer. She broke into our older chicken tractor and killed the 9 chickens in there. We are now down to 7 laying hens and one rooster.
After seeing my frustration, my daughter asked me how much it would cost to replace the chickens. I tried to explain to her that it wasn't the money, but the time already invested. We were just now seeing and enjoying the fruit of our labor, and now this. One of my favorite sayings is "take your lemons and make lemonade". I am trying hard to do this with this situation. I understand that in the grand scheme of things this really isn't that big of a deal. It is just a bump in the road, and we can replace the other hens. I am also thankful that it was just chickens and not something that costs much more like say a dairy cow.
grace and peace,
julie
2 comments:
Oh Julie! I'm so sorry.....I know how disheartening it is...been there and done that! Take one of those dead chickens to Missy until she never wants to see another one...worked for Doegee.
Cheri,
I remember Josh telling me that he took a dead chicken to Doegee. We had a shock collar system that we used on Roxie to contain her in the backyard. Michael had an idea of using that around our remaining chicken tractor so that everytime Missy came near it she would get shocked. Thanks for the support. I knew you would know how frustrated I was.
talk with you later,
julie
Post a Comment