The Saddest Morning

This really has been the saddest morning. Around 8 o'clock Jon went out to the backyard and found that ALL of our chickens were dead. They were all laying in a line along the inside of the chicken run. Some of them had obviously been chewed on by some sort of animals, while others looked like they had just tipped over dead out of sheer fright. Before Jon came in and told me he put them all in a bucket and covered it with straw and spread straw all over the inside of the chicken run to cover up the blood and the feathers. When I went out there was just an empty chicken coop. I bawled.

We think that a fox or a raccoon must have gotten into the chicken run and had a late night snack. The sides of the run are too high for a dog and a cat wouldn't have been able to wreck that kind of havoc. We didn't have a covering to the top of the run because we figured they would be safe. Our neighbors two houses down have a whole bunch of chickens who just run free around their yard, and they don't even have a fence. They have had them for years and said they never have had anything get at them, except for people who are walking their dogs along the street. Their chickens were out pecking around just fine and dandy this morning, while ours are all gone. Sob. Sob. Our coop is really close to the house and we just assumed that they would be safe, but we were REALLY, REALLY wrong. I feel so bad about the whole thing because I feel like they were trapped in there and couldn't run away. I feel like we have been bad stewards of our chickens and that we put them in danger. If we had just put chicken wire over the top then they would have been fine (maybe). I know that I shouldn't beat myself up too bad, because honestly-- how could we know what would happen? Life is always full of new lessons to be learned, even if you have to learn some of them the hard way.

I just can't believe that ALL 8 of them are gone. I mean it is one thing to have one or two get eaten or to get sick and die, but to have all 8 gone at once is tragic. I told Jon this must be what it feels like to have your dog get run over by a car, and he said "Yeah, but only 8 times worse." I didn't realize how attached Jon and I had become to those chickens over the last few months. We really loved them. They had become a big part of our life and our family. We saved money to get them, we planned and worked together to get place for them to live, we cooed and adored them as chicks, watched them grow and their perosnalieis develop, and were looking forward to having our first eggs in about month! Sob.

Asher doesn't really understand yet what has happened, and I don't think he will-- I hope. He hasn't even noticed they are gone yet. I am sad for him because he really loved feeding, petting and chasing the chickens. I hope that we will be able to get some more chickens in the next week or so that will take the place of the ones we lost. Then maybe he won't even realize what happened. This weekend we are going to build an new an improved chicken run and I've already found someone who has month old chickens for sale. I might even be able to get the Silkie chickens or the Frizzles that I wanted so much last time. This means I won't have eggs till about the fall, but at least it will be better than nothing. But still, my heart aches for my little chickens and I feel like there is a gap in my heart. I can't even write this without crying. Sob. But I will get over it. It has just been a rough morning. Bye Bye my chicky babes-- Do you think chickens go to heaven?