Edith is Missing, and a plea for help

Two big piles of black and white feathers on the back lawn. A third pile in the neighbor's yard.

One drop of blood on the chicken feeder.

A tuft of reddish grey fur snagged on the chicken wire near a hole about 6 inches around.

Red fox.

Now there's no question of what happened to Agnes 3 days ago.

Penny stands alone, nervous little biddy, and I'm a nervous wreck. I have GOT to protect these birds. They are self-sufficient and practically zero-maintenance in every way, but completely vulnerable and helpless against night predators. My chicken-keeping friends in our previous neighborhood have had no predator problems, even when the coop is open to everything all night long. My neighborhood is just a little bit 'rougher', I suppose, on poultry. We're only a few blocks from a restored prairie and protected natural wildlife habitat. I like the idea of foxes having a natural place to live. I just don't like them stealing my birds.

Time to get defensive.

Short term: I installed a solid door on the coop so I can lock Penny in at night.

Long term: I've designed a new predator-proof pen that should be more stylish, easier to maintain, and much more spacious than the current, temporary, woefully naive, and grossly inadequate setup:

Farmer Bob and his ladies are in there just to give you a sense of scale. It's essentially an enclosure that goes around the existing coop. Hardware cloth (1/2-inch) will be screwed into the frame on every side, even the floor and ceiling. The rectangle bottom is composed of 2"x12" lumber, sort of like a raised garden bed, so I can use the "deep litter" method for managing the chicken droppings (i.e. self-composting). Here are a few more views of the same idea:

The top third will have a waterproof cover and fancy fabric "tent" to keep my ladies dry and stylin'. And the pen itself should be large enough for 4-5 laying hens to live out their days in peace without additional running room (though I do have plans to let them forage in the orchard once it's mature enough to provide them shelter/shade).

I will need help constructing this, to be sure. I'm working out a few more details before gathering the materials and sending out an S.O.S to all my local tool-wielding friends. If you are local and you want to help, please let me know if you prefer next Saturday (July 7th), or sometime between the 9th and the 14th.

Power tools. Yeah.

Buddy's New Swimsuit...

...and he's just about outgrown it. It's a size 4, according to the pattern, the same size as Alice's pink and purple suit that I made last year, but I added 3 inches to the shirt length (to avoid another awkward ruffle or creative striping maneuver). I managed to sew it at my friend's house over a couple of evenings. I'm getting more practice with her serger. The whole project from purchasing fabric to finished hems took about 4 hours. Buddy loves it. I love it.

26 Weeks

BoGah is officially 26 weeks along now. The end of the second trimester. The beginning of viability outside the womb. Were he to be born next week, he would be on the edge of what modern medical science could rescue. Every week beyond that pretty much doubles his chances at survival and a healthy future with few side affects.

Not that I expect him to come early. This is just something I come to realize at this point in every pregnancy so far :)

He's just about here. 

Am I ready?

Emotionally, I now have space for him. Physically, the pregnancy itself is becoming more cumbersome and restricting than I like...especially in such an active time of year for our family (and my farm!). Sometimes I catch myself thinking, "What the HECK is wrong with me? Why can't I handle this task like I used to?" And then I remember that I'm 6 months pregnant. Mowing the lawn is no longer an option. Holding Robert while I'm standing is pretty much over. Sleeping through the night? A dream of the past. Sometimes I catch myself thinking, "Things will be easier when he's finally born." Bwah ha ha haaaaa! What a joke. One thing will get easier: sleeping on my back. Everything else will get more complicated :)

As far as BoGah's physical accommodations once he arrives, I'm almost there. Just gotta put the crib back up, find a dresser, move the changing table and nursing chair in there, and then find a place to stash the sewing mess. Hold on, maybe I'm NOT almost there. *groan*

And there's also a list of things I'd like to get done before he arrives...oh man, we need some name suggestions.

Follow-up

After some thought about the hairdo and dressing fiasco yesterday, I realized that Alice is still developing her sense of time. She doesn't know or care what time it is and she has NO idea how long something will take to complete. We had a calm little chat about it yesterday afternoon while snuggling on the couch (another Love & Logic staple) to brainstorm ideas for the "next time" our morning is a little crunched for time. I mentioned that fancy hairdos take quite a bit of time to create and that I would need to know ahead of time if she was planning on a fancy hairdo some morning. She may even have to eat her breakfast a little faster than usual to make sure there's enough time for everything else. She felt that was fair.

This morning, I asked her early on about the hairdo and she helped me carve the time for it. No meltdowns. No sobbing. No frustration. She had her outrageous, attention-grabbing hairdo for camp and I had a quick, well-timed morning. All was well:

Two braids in the front, two ponytails on the sides, and two braids in the back.
Adorned with a crown headband and a froofy pink clip in the front. 100% Alice.

Now if I can only remember this long enough to nip it in the bud next time. Sigh.

Agnes is missing

I went to refill the chicks' food this afternoon and found one of them missing. Agnes, our black australorp. There was an unusual amount of feathers about, but no blood or flesh or any other sign of carnage. I had left the pen door unlocked overnight. I presume she was carried away. Or perhaps she managed an escape. She was always the bolder one, less afraid of everything, more vocal about her needs, and the first to try anything. Maybe she'll show up again in a couple days. Probably not.

This is the second chicken we've lost since purchasing them 3 months ago. I didn't expect to have issues like this. I've taken measures to secure the chicks' pen and coop more tonight. Who knows if the kidnapper will return?

I am hesitant to jump into locating another bird right away. If I do decide to fill out my flock again, I will probably need to add at least two birds. Chickens can be cruel to newcomers...worse than 7th grade girls. A single newcomer literally will be attacked by the rest of the group. Sometimes killed. It can be stressful for everyone. Edith and Penny seem the nervous type...they might fall in line behind a newcomer. Edith is bossy, though, and may issue a death sentence. If there's an "old" group and a "new" group, at least each chicken has a place in her own order until the two groups duke it out and finally blend.

I do have another friend who's willing to sell me a couple hens about the right age. They're just beginning to lay. A docile breed, light-colored, that literally squats in place when you approach them. Absolutely catchable and pettable. Alice and Robert will be quite pleased to have those around.

Let me think about the coop and pen arrangements some more. Four chickens...they'll need more running room. Is there time to make the upgrade before this pregnancy becomes unwieldy?