06/13/2025
It’s hatch day on the farm!
We didn’t plan on hatching another round this season, but it happens.
3 weeks ago, our flock of 8 hens, 3 pullets, and 1 cockerel was let out to free range. Our rooster had been aggressive the day before, so he was crated. It was a rainy Saturday and we had a wrestling tournament 2 hours away. We let them out as we had been doing, and when we got home that evening I knew something wasn’t right. We ended losing the majority of our flock to a fox. We were able to find 3 hens and our cockerel, all ALIVE! One hen had an injury under her wing and we separated her and got her cleaned up. We recovered 4 hens that weren’t so lucky. We never found the other hen or the 3 pullets. It was devastating! I am so proud of my son for how he handled the situation. He helped us search and bag the hens that we could find. We talked about how sad it is, but it happens sometimes. It’s a risk we take every time we open the door to let the flock out.
We lost some great hens and sweet babies. Since we only had 4 of the 12 make it from the last incubation (they were still living inside in the brooder) we decided to take the last of the eggs that our girls left us and incubate them. We have at least 1 from each of the original flock already, but my daughter’s hen, Parker Jo, that we lost had only produced the cockerel so far. We have 5 Parker Jo eggs incubating, so I’m hopeful for a pullet.
Lesson learned… the flock only gets to free range if we plan on being home and can be outside the majority of the time. Also, they don’t get to come out unless the rooster is with them. He proved himself last Saturday morning when my husband let them out. It was another rainy Saturday and I was woken by the rooster screaming his head off running by my bedroom window. I quickly jumped up and saw the fox chasing him. We weren’t able to catch the fox, but the flock was saved and the rooster made his way back home.
