I Shot a Possum, and Other Chicken Tales

My lack of posts due to the absence of interesting events was interrupted yesterday as Wednesday was highlighted by three dramatic episodes for the chickens and their keeper. The major development of the day was that the vermin that brought much pain, heartache and anxiety was apprehended. 

As I was heading outside after dinner to feed the chickens their daily treats, I noticed that the live trap next to their pen was closed and something furry was contained within. Upon closer examination the furry-something ended up a being a possum, most likely the one who dispatched of the Black Australorp back in mid-July. The trap had been set since mid-July. In fact, I had planned to give up and put it away last weekend, but was feeling lazy. One of the grossest things about the incident was that the bait (can of cat food) had been in the trap at least two weeks, which should tell you a lot about possums and their food preferences (and I guess that tells you something about my trap-keeping skills. Who says laziness can’t lead to success?) 

Don't be fooled--it's not dead in this picture. It's just playing possum.

Despite the vicious predator contained in a trap just outside their fence, the Originals seemed to sense it was no longer a threat.

 I immediately phoned the neighbor, picked up the cage with the musty, sour smelling critter and carried it to the row of pine trees that would serve as death row. My neighbor arrived with a rifle and Mr. Possum quickly met his maker. I had no qualms about shooting the little sucker square in the noggin, especially since he ate livestock that would have produced many eggs for eating. 

Possums carry diseases that can be fatal to horses so there was also an interest to keep Jubilee and Charlie healthy. (You may also recall that we had a possum problem back in May 2012 that was resolved in a similar manner).

Prior to the excitement of the possum incident, I arrived home from work and went about doing the daily chores, the first of which is walking through the barn to visit the vegetable garden. Upon entering the barn I found a very distraught Dominique who was standing on top of the chicken coop. She must have flown out of the pen, reentered the barn and was desperately trying to rejoin her buddies inside. After trying to coax her down, I gave up and went to the garden, where I contemplated my strategy to get her back where she belonged.

Brief side note: Dominique and Brownie had escaped not 10 days earlier using the same technique-they were discovered wandering in the barn aisle. Brownie was herded back into the outdoor pen after about 10 minutes. Dominique proved harder to catch since she isn’t used to being handled—I cornered her by the barn and electric netting (which had been turned off). In her urgency to get away from me, she ran into the netting, which allowed me to grab her. Despite her initial squawking, she settled right down and allowed me to carry her back to her buddies).

So, after picking quite a haul of green beans, squash, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers I returned to the barn determined to get the chicken down off the coop. She could be tempted with treats, but  would flee when I tried to pick her up (which was kind of hard to do standing on a step stool). Finally she got close enough to the edge of the coop’s wire ceiling that I was able to prod her to the ground using the handle of a pitchfork. She was quickly ushered into the coop where I found…

TWO EGGS! Woo hoo! One (or two) of the Originals is starting to lay. The eggs were right by the human entrance to the coop, so now the challenge is getting the chickens to lay in their nest boxes (stay tuned for updates). 

The eggs aren’t very big—I’d say one would be considered medium-size and the other is small. Obviously, I am really looking forward to breakfast tomorrow morning.