The Head of Chicken Security

So as it turns out, the chickens were trying to tell us something after all. All the clucking and strange behavior - especially Rachel's was apparently an attempt to alert us to some compromises that a critter had made to "chicken security". We discovered that all the low-lying electrical fencing had been compromised, which enabled a critter (or critters) to dig holes and pathways under the fencing separating the cow pasture from the chicken enclosure. Inside we have an extra layer of security between the space the chickens occupy and a storage area in their house. That too was compromised. A tunnel had been dug from cow pasture to storage area and even a piece of the exterior wall had been removed. Fortunately, we discovered this in time and everyone is unharmed, safe and sound. We bolstered up our defenses and laid some traps in the storage area (something we have done before with success - just ask the pissed off possum who now lives miles away from our farm in the forest).

There were complications, however. After bolstering up our defenses, we discovered that the chickens had grown used to entering the cow pasture from these new "exits" and now without them could not find their way back at supper time :). This resulted in my husband chasing a rougue Rhode Island Red around the cow pasture (sorry, no video :). One thing we learned is that chickens and cows get on fine. In fact, most other farm animals seem to ignore chickens all together. Well, everyone except the cat who occasionally likes to stalk a loner chicken and give her the fright of her life.

Nothing has shown up in the traps so far, but we have caught Joe staring deeply into the storage area. For the most part, things seem to be back to normal. Egg production is up and the ladies are back to their normal antics. We will continue to keep an eye on things and as we do, we will be more attentive to Rachel, who is cleary the head of chicken security.