When a Tree Falls in The Chicken Run.
Disclaimer, this is a bit of a sad story, but a true story of raising chickens.
This summer in Minnesota it has been especially rainy, so much so it has been hard to plant or grow anything! Last week it was extremely windy, and with the combination of wet ground and high winds a huge tree uprooted and fell in the middle of the chicken run!
The tree fell sometime during the middle of the day and without our knowledge. I went out to get eggs around 6:30pm and I didn’t see any eggs or hear any hens, which is more than unusual. Just as I came out of the coop my husband and friend showed up carrying a bin for our new chicks. I turned the corner and saw the down tree and yelled to my husband. As he took a look for himself, he not only saw the down tree but two of our hens on the ground. The other seven were nowhere to be found.
From what we have seen on trail cams in the past, the fact that it happened in broad daylight and the way the hens were left we suspect it was a fox. Since the tree was down, it was leaning on the fence and made it very easy for any animal to help itself to our poor unsuspecting flock.
As we investigated the scene, my husband started making his chicken call whistle and the rest of the seven hens came out of all nooks and crannies of the woods! Luckily they had all gotten to safety.
Our normal operation is that we have a solar run door on the coop that leads to the run. When the sun comes up, the chickens can go out into the run, which is a large fenced in area covered by trees where they forage each day, as the sun sets they know to head back in before the door closes. However, with the rain and weather changes the door is not reliable enough to keep the chickens safe. We have lost several chickens over the past few years because of them getting locked out by the auto door. If we are home and they are stuck outside my husband carries them in out of their hiding spots one by one.
Because of all of this he has been working on making them a screened in run. Where they can go in and out day or night, get fresh air, forage, and they will be safe and sound! Stay tuned for that blog post coming soon!
I hope you found this helpful or inspiring! If so, please let me know by leaving a comment! Remember to sign up for our emails to keep up with my farm, art, restoration and other miscellaneous adventures. Thank you!
Xoxo, B
