Checking out the new chickens

My little man loves watching the chickens.  Here are a couple photos of him one morning...

New Chickens

Our new chickens, Minnie, Bennet and Princess Leia

So, after much discussion, we decided to bypass raising chicks again.  We didn't want to start all the way over with chicks that would need to stay in the house for the next 4 weeks.  We had the City of Golden Permit, the coop, pen and run built, and the yard just felt empty with out chickens. We also have eaten our last egg from Belle, Briar Rose and Mermaid and don't want to wait until October to get eggs. After a lot of though, we are going to get some chickens that can be outside, but are still a few weeks away from laying eggs.

I felt bad not going to the Golden Mill for our chicks, but was able to support small local business through a farm in Erie, CO called Wildfire Farms.  I spoke to the lady and she said she had lots of types of chickens to choose from.  I ran up to her farm and quickly picked out three new pullets for our family.

   Bennet the Barred Rock  - born February 22, 2013 - received at 16weeks. $19
   Princess Leia the White Leghorn - born March 29th, 2013 - received at 11 weeks. $11
   Minnie the Rhode Island Red - born March 29th, 2013 - received at 11 weeks. $11

The one thing about not raising the new girls from chicks, is I am a little afraid how they will behave in their new surroundings and with our family.  I really like the looks of the black and white Barred Rock and they are suppose to be a real nice, kind, gentle breed but a bit bossy to the other chickens.  I am hoping that having the two younger chickens will keep Bennett from being too bossy.  The white leghorn, Princess Leia, is kinda spastic and skitish...  I have read that this is their breed, so I don't expect much change of her behavior.

Happy to have chickens again and its nice to have a couple new breeds to raise too!

We will miss you Belle, Briar Rose and Mermaid, you taught me and my family a lot in your short time with us!

My kids and our chicks  - April 2012

Got it!

So, after losing two chickens, I was sad.  After losing the third, I was pissed!  I went to HomeDepot to buy a raccoon trap but surprisingly they were all sold out?!  Huh?! Really?! Raccoon traps are that in need?!??!

Not wanted to wait for new ones to come in, I jumped on good old Craigslist and found a guy in nearby Lakewood who had a brand new trap for sale for $50, the same price as HD.  I met up with him and he gave me some tips on catching a raccoon.  I set the trap up Sunday night with some wet cat food and came out the next morning to find the food gone!  That means he is still around!  I set it up again last night and made sure to put the food farther to the back and came out this morning to find this mean guy in the trap!!  

Caught inside the chicken run, I am blaming this raccoon for the death of our three chickens
 and sentencing him to banishment from Golden for life!

Not feeling good about killing an animal who was pretty much invited to eat my chickens, I thought the best way to keep him from coming back would be exile him from Golden and release him down near Bear Creek Lake State Park. Its probably only about 7 miles away, but there is C-470 highway and I-70 highway that I hope keeps him away.  Goodbye and good ridden Rocky Raccoon!

I'll keep the trap set for the next week or more to see if he had any friends that liked chickens too while we discuss as a family what we want to do next about chickens.

Another one bites the dust....

While we lost two of our chickens earlier this week, sadly last night we lost Mermaid too.  I had her in the pen and was gone at a friends house.  I came home a little late around 11:30pm and went to close up the run, but found another pile of feathers in the pen.  Normally closing the coop up late hasn't been a problem this past year, but what ever got the chickens earlier this week, must still be hungry and came back for one last treat.

To be honest, I was feeling very bad for Mermaid being the last and lonely chicken.  I was also worried about introducing new chickens into her home.  While I am feel horrible she is gone and feel solely responsible for her death, I do feel like she is happier.  I hope she got to meet up with Belle and Briar Rose in a chicken coop in the sky!

I spoke to all our neighbors about what happend to the first two chickens.  One neighbor said he say them across the street and tried to catch them but they were too quick.  Another neighbor found an egg in his yard.  So, the chickens were out BEFORE they were attacked.  Another neighbor said they saw a big fat raccoon along their fence.  While its still not clear how the first chickens got out of the pen, evidence is leading to RockyRaccoon for the disappearance of Belle, Briar Rose and Mermaid.

Next step... catch the bastard raccoon that has been getting my chickens!!!