08/24/2026
It’s just this year that the predators have seemed to realize we have chickens. I have already lost one of my most fun speckled layer due to what I believe was a fox. A few weeks have passed by and I lost a year old beautifully splashed Silverudd’s hen and then her blue hatchmate shortly after. Considered very little signs were found, the fox was a suspect again in their case. I have since culled some of the roosters who didn’t seem to have the best protective instincts. All of my adult layers with the exception of one rooster with unclipped wings and a persistent free-ranged hens have been locked in electric fencing. What I couldn’t keep confined was the small growouts who can squeeze through the fencing still. Well, one of them, a splashed Silverudd’s Blue was attacked by a hawk in the early afteroon today. We looked and confirmed on the cameras. I was home. It happened right in the front yard. I didn’t hear a thing despite being home. They weren’t deep in the woods. They weren’t in the open. They were so close to the house I didn’t click with me the hawks spy on their potential prey from the branches and of course, the chickens with white plumage are easy to spot. The loss this year makes me think about how I want to change things because I cannot afford to feed the local wildlife like this. Months of work and tons of money lost. I’m not even angry anymore, even though I cried in helplessness when I found my girl who laid those insanely speckled eggs missing. I’m just tired. And I don’t take anything for granted anymore. I’m so thankful the three pullets I had hatched from the heavily speckled layer survived the attack. Even though my heart is so happy when they free range, and when I see them enjoy the grass and bugs so much, they will need to remain in their run.