Poor Miss Agnes got the scare of her little chicken life yesterday. She and the girls were wandering the front yard, not ten steps from my front door and a fox came out of nowhere and tried to abduct her!
I'm thankful that I heard the commotion and ran out. He took off out to the back path, chickenless. But there was a mound of feathers on the lawn and I knew it was Agnes' feathers. I was praying it wasn't Agnes! It was only feathers, though, so I started doing the head count and calling them in.
Josephine was in the pen, Hilda & Bertha were behind the shed, the four bantams were under the pear tree, Mildred was in a nesting box and poor Agnes was hiding in the garden. I checked her over and there was no blood, so Mr. Fox only got a mouthful of feathers! She was terrified, though. Needless to say, they stayed in the pen the rest of the day.
I worry about letting them out now, even with me being there. I know raising chickens means dealing with predators. I've got the shotgun loaded and handy now. And god help that fox if I see him near my chickens again, because I'm fairly handy with a rifle, pistol and shotgun, but there's not much I can do if I'm not there. I know I just need to let it go and let nature take its course, but they're pets to me...feathered cats that lay eggs and whose poop makes good fertilizer!
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