Alas, we have a sad update to share.
Our beautiful flock of chickens has been taken out by a weasel. Last week, we had a brutally cold snap and were spending less time outdoors than usual. During this time, a brave little weasel made a visit to the hen house and took out the flock. The next day, we saw it loping through the snow.
With this, we’re starting to think about whether or not we should order chicks this spring or take some time and design a better coop.
In the past, we have lost a flock to a fox and another to a hawk. Our next design will need to account for aerial and land predator infiltration.
Some of our flocks have been free-range, which we love. Chickens eat a lot of ticks and pests that can harm our family, pets and garden, so it’s a great service that they provide! Allowing them to roam is wonderful, but it opens them up to vulnerabilities.
Instead, I think we’ll likely use a special design of an enclosed coop on wheels that has a roof and enclosure built in together. We have little kids, so our evenings are already busy enough without tucking chickens into bed too. No, these birds need to be able to come in an out as they please, without a lot of exposure to wild animals.
Another element that we will account for is having enough high elevation roosting space, to protect the hens from creatures like weasels.
Meanwhile, we have one hen who was recuperating from being pecked on by the others, who is now our lone chicken. We are looking to rehome her, so please let us know if you are interested in making Rita your house chicken or bringing her into your flock!
We love having fresh eggs for our B&B guests, and the chickens make a great attraction and interest for our kids and our guests’ families. We hope to come back stronger and use a better design plan to improve our farm practices and better protect our animals. I know we live together with the animals on this land, and I don’t blame a hungry weasel for doing its job to stay warm and fed. I just hope we can keep our pets safe in the future.
-Carin McCarthy
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