Where Are They Now

Rebecca wanted to know if I still have the mobster chickens....

I started out with five hens and a baby rooster.  The rooster was intended for someone else and he left as soon as his "mother" lost interest in him.  One of the red hens got eaten by an unknown predator within days of their arrival.  That left the Godmother (the Black Australorp), her two thugs and the Redheaded Stepchild.

They all had lots of fun running around the farm, terrorizing the insect population, squabbling amongst themselves, chasing the cat, annoying the donkeys, pretending to rule the world and destroying everything they could.  Typical chickens.

And then...I went out one day to find that there had been a murder in the night.  One of the thugs was gone, leaving behind nothing but a pile of speckled feathers and a trio of very upset hens.  They went on about their lives, but refused to reenter the chicken coop and moved into the hay barn, much to my dismay.  I didn't blame them for not wanting to live in a crime scene, but lordy, what a mess three hens can make. 

The Godmother eventually decided to get broody again despite the fact that there was no rooster here and her efforts were doomed from the start.  However, Farm Buddy had ordered a batch of chicks and she wanted a mother for them so the Godmother went over to her farm to raise the new babies.

FB set the Godmother up in her own pen, waited until dark and then stuck the baby chicks under the hen.  The Godmother was delighted to wake up and find that her "eggs" had hatched and she set about raising her new family.

That left just the one thug and the Redheaded Stepchild.  Without their Commander in Chief, the Thug became even more thuggish and spent most of her time alternately shunning or abusing the Redheaded Stepchild and took to following me around.

During all this, the Redheaded Stepchild kept having health issues.  I made sure she got apple cider vinegar and probiotics and she would get better for a while and then sick again.  After seeming to get better and look quite healthy, she suddenly went down hill and it was clear she would not live out the day so I finally put an end to her suffering. 

That left just one lonely hen, one of the thugs, who followed me around and looked pathetic for several days.  I told FB that she had to take her because one hen is not a happy hen.  FB, of course, wanted me to get more chickens, but until/unless I build something solid for them, I am not going to have any more.  FB was worried that the Thug would get picked on by her hens and would cause trouble.  I told her that I had no doubt whatsoever that this Thug could handle herself and she would be just fine. 

And she is.

She went over to FB's at the end of summer and fit right into the flock over there.  She and the Godmother are living happily ever after over at FB's farm. 

So...five hens...two got eaten by predators, one died of natural causes (maybe - the red hen loved to eat the foam insulation surrounding my house as well as a truly bizarre assortment of oddities, I suspect this played a significant role in her demise.  You are what you eat after all.)and two went to live at FB's where they still are. 

Not a terrible track record considering that just about everything (including me) likes to eat chicken.