From an egg to a nightmare

So we set out to buy a bunch of wood at the home improvement store and started working! I build it off the ground to keep predators out (or so I thought) and surrounded it by fence.

We went to the farm stores and found a giant variety of baby chicken. I wanted a colorful flock of beauties! So we picked both Bantams and Standard chicken. I even looked online to see what else I wanted!

The start wasn't too bad. A few lessons learned here and there. But they grew and we would sit there for hours watching them chase bugs and have fun. I had converted an old dog house to a chicken daycare. And after one of my cats managed to grab one by its head, I doubled the wire at the opening. They kept growing.

Six months seemed like such a long time and I became an Idiot! I say that now because I just keep becoming a victim of Human Nature and still trust people!

In the picture came a supposed religious man named Arthur! He is one of the reasons I view religious people with a lot of distrust! If religion is only for you on Sunday, you better step away. If you belief in God like I do, you better follow common sense and decency all week!

I saw his little shanty town of chicken cages but didn't get the point. I wanted some adult hens that would lay eggs! So I bought six of them; five black ones and one brown one!

Within a week I found my first dead chicken! Their eyes started swelling up and it looked a lot like a cold! I found some tips and help online and even on craigslist. And yes, I made sure that Arthur's ads were flagged and people know about him; including the farm store that told me about him!

Hundreds of dollars in medicine later we got used to finding our babies dead. We celebrated each day that we didn't! The one medicine that worked was over $40 at the farm store. We added vitamins and more.

When we thought all was well, disaster struck again!

I had Guineas and they were always loud! One day we came home and it was this silence...

Somebody's damn dog (and you know I love dogs) had gotten in my coop and killed almost twenty chicken! A few more didn't survive their injuries. The one that did with its horrible neck injury I still have today!

Arthur's curse returned and took some more. Then another dog made it into my coop!

Funny how others bitch if my dogs ever get lose! So who listened to me bitch when their dogs came around and took my babies!

By now we had only two chicken left when a dog struck the third time. My brown hen became the victim. The chicken coop now closely resembled Fort Knox and my last remaining hen stood their alone for weeks until I couldn't stand it no more!

I am a firm believer that pack/flock animals deserve a natural life as much as possible. I try to avoid having 'Singles'.

A great lady came to my rescue! She sold her chicken on the often hated craigslist for $5-10 each. When you don't have much, that's Christmas to you right there!

To see my lonesome hen so excited about having company was worth spending the money I didn't really have! She is totally happy and relaxed; sleeps in the midds of 'strangers' every night! I am a little more psycho now. I hear a noise and up I am, armed with anything that will do the deed!

My chicken are only allowed outside when I am there to protect them. If I leave the house I leave somebody behind to watch! And as much as I love dogs, stray dogs are no longer welcome unattended! I used to leave food out for them!

I really don't blame the dogs. But I blame Arthur and his money sucking lies! And I blame the owners of the dogs that let them roam! I see them trotting by along the street every day or night!

I guess the lesson is to educate yourself about what you want to do! Start with baby chicken or make sure you know for sure where your adults are coming from! And make sure that your coop is well protected against the carelessness of others! Yes, my dogs have been guilty of it once before too, but I made retribution for the loss and and stood up for my mistakes! I wish others would be man or woman enough to do so!

You see, in my family they are not just egg-layers! My children raised each of them with all their love and many were named. Sometimes the same since we couldn't tell them all apart!

Educate yourself and prepare for anything! And enjoy each egg as a special gift!

Maybe that little rooster I have now will actually turn these eggs into true gifts and I will be once again a happy Grandma watching the chirping of these cute little guys and girls!