predator

“Mom, Ayla was going after what looked like a chicken in our driveway.” my daughter explained as I was cleaning up the kitchen. It was 12:35am (yes, we are a late-night family), and my husband had just let the dogs out before bedtime. “Did the chicken coop get closed up tonight?” I asked. Just then my son entered the room and said “Yep. I closed and locked the door.” “Did you count the chickens before you closed up the coop?” He replied “No, it was too dark.” Just then I heard my husband yell, “Ayla, leave it!” followed by a bunch of clucking. The kids and I ran to the front door and my son exclaimed “Rosie, what are you doing up here?” As I looked out the door, I saw the dogs running up the sidewalk with our Rosie on their heels. Both dogs ran into the house – the youngest looking very proud of herself for letting the chicken keep all of her feathers (ears held high, tail wagging, tongue out, with a big smile on her face). Rosie, on the other hand, was a little distraught standing on the porch, clucking without pause. I’m not sure if it was because of Ayla’s playful advances, or because she had been locked out of the coop for a few hours. But, for whatever reason, Rosie was here and needed help. I slowly bent down to pick up sweet Rosie. She stood still – seemingly aware of her situation and wanting nothing more to do with it. Rosie gave out two more clucks before she settled into my arms and quieted herself. I slipped on my big snow boots and headed around the back of the house toward the chicken coop. As I neared the chicken coop, I saw that the kids had gone through the house, grabbed a flashlight and their boots, and were heading to the coop too. I also heard several hens out in the attached chicken run chatting as they heard our arrival. “Why are the hens out in the run tonight? They’re never out in the run at night during the winter months.” I said to the kids. Just then, I heard my son say “Johnny, why are you off of the perch tonight?” Our rooster loves his perch – once he settles on it – he doesn’t leave until the sun comes up. “What is going on?” I asked. “We have to thoroughly check the coop and run to see what has the chickens so worked up.” My son had the flashlight, and within seconds I heard him yell “OH MY GOSH! THERE’S AN OPOSSUM IN THE CHICKEN COOP!” I saw a small opossum curled up behind the five-gallon chicken waterer as I peeked into the coop. Johnny had the young opossum cornered in the coop, and he or she looked terrified. Half of the hens were perching high up on their roost in the coop, and the other half had decided that the coop wasn’t safe enough to sleep in, so they were perching in the run – smart birds. I walked back to the chicken run to set Rosie inside while my daughter went to get my husband to help get the opossum out of the coop. As I returned to the coop, I saw Rosie dashing out of the chicken coop. She wasn’t about to be locked in with the opossum. I picked her up again and set her on the high perch in the coop – this time she decided to stay and watch us. My son gave my husband a three-foot stick to try to urge the opossum out of the coop. The opossum showed his or her teeth at first sight of the stick, but then put up with the gentle nudging. Luckily he or she was younger so there was no awful hissing or snarling that older opossums are known for. Meanwhile, our trusty rooster did not leave my husband’s side. If my husband was inside the coop nudging the opossum toward the door, Johnny was right there. When my husband moved outside to keep the little predator moving away from the coop, Johnny was not more than a few inches away from my husband’s legs. It wouldn’t surprise me if our rooster thought that he was the one getting that opossum to move. The opossum wobbled around the coop after exiting and tried to hide beneath a wooden pallet – not too private. My family checked the coop and run one last time before helping the chickens get settled in for the rest of the night. Our opossum experience had the kids on a late-night adrenaline rush, so we talked about our opossum encounter before climbing into bed. We all agreed that: Johnny was a great rooster for protecting his hens a flashlight should be carried out each time the coop is closed for the night in order to count the chickens (and check for opossums) we were very lucky that the opossum was young When my son awoke the next morning, he showed me a short paragraph in the book The Chicken Whisperer’s Guide to Keeping Chickens. Authors Schneider and Dr. McCrea write: Opossums occasionally raid a chicken house, often taking a single bird at a time and clumsily mauling it. Opossums tend to feed on the bird starting at the vent or consume young poultry whole, leaving behind a few wet feathers. They’ll also eat eggs left in the nest. You’ll find eggs smashed and strewn about, often with just small pieces of shell remaining. Opossums may also come in just to eat the grain or feed in the feeder. We were lucky. I can’t help thinking back to when Rosie came to our front porch. She had made the decision to stay out of the coop when it got dark (which is not easy for chickens to do), she braved the dogs in the driveway, and proceeded to follow them to the