**Here is part 2 of the gripping tale of how chickens are such a huge part of my life, part 1 you can read
here**
Fast forward to November when my world fell apart. On the 20th, an dog escaped their yard like half the town away, and killed for fun all my children except Batsy and Justin. The dog just saw them as chew toys and once one was dead, he moved on to the next. I was devastated. In an instant I lost so many beloved family members. It wasn't fair. My chickens were in my fenced yard, minding their own business and some idiot who can't control their dog is the reason for so much heart break. Justin survived by running away into some tumbleweeds, and Batsy, my dear, sweet, amazing Batsy survived by hiding in my fenced in garden, hiding among the forest of tomatoes.
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| This was the last picture I had of everyone-including Rocket |
Batsy and Justin lived the life of luxury for several months while I tried to heal. I ended up testifying in court. I even submitted a PowerPoint demonstrating the value of my chickens and a spreadsheet totaling the value that I put into each one. But the court doesn't see livestock as investments. They are just $5, mindless dumb animals. For the whole affair, I ended up receiving $125 for the loss of 5 beautiful birds. It was a massive insult. For months, I was torn between being done with raising and caring for my favorite animal, and wanting to get more to help heal the hole in my heart.
I chose restarting. Come the next spring, I'd get new kids that don't remind me of my old kids and I'd get a turkey to protect the flock. I swore never to lose my kids like that again. I worked on fully enclosing the chickens in the yard and planned out my next breeds. I was at work one day, when Todd told me 2 chickens had been dumped into our yard. 2 brown Red Rangers, that we named Captain Brownie and Lieutenant Blondie. Batsy welcomed the girls into the flock, and Justin was excited to woo more ladies.
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| Lieutenant Blondie on the left and Captain Brownie on the right |
Spring rolled around and my heart was ready. It was March 1st, 2018 and my new children were here to help me heal and move on from my heartbreak. I got 2 Easter Eggers, 1 turkey, and 1 Brahma. Banshee, Valkyrie, Chrono (named after that Thanksgiving cartoon, Free Birds), and Tidie Whitey. The Easter Eggers I had to get because I needed the blue/green eggs in my life and I was just going to have to deal with the fact that they looked so much like Thor and Snickers.
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| Valkyrie |
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| Banshee |
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| Chrono the turkey |
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| Tidie Whitey (Captain Underpants) |
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| Who disturbs the mighty Tengu's slumber? |
Chrono was such a mamma's boy. He refused to sleep if I didn't drag the beanbag over and sleep next to the pack and play. They loved to snuggle and
terrorize the cats. Chrono grew and grew and grew. At this point we had purchased a shed and converted it into a new coop fit for my larger flock. At this time I added a Sea bright chick, named Victory (he almost died, so when he lived it was a victory!) and Rogue, the Silver Laced Polish. I don't have pictures of them as a baby, so here they are more grown.
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| Victory |
We we're a full blown family again! We had chickens galore! It was so great to have such a large collection of children running around inside and out
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| Outing in the sunshine |
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| Littles and bigs all come together at the water hole |
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| Chrono was growing up so fast! |
Soon after these were taken, I learned that Chrono was a meat turkey. Meaning he was meant to grow heavy and fast, have a short life span, and be slaughtered young. I was heartbroken. He was such a sweet boy, loved to cuddle, kind to all the other kids and a definite momma's boy. I knew I needed a turkey to help protect my flock from predators, so I decided to go out and get Chrono's successor (without telling Devin or Todd) and I ended up with a stowaway because she was so pretty.
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| Albus (we called him Devin too) |
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| Lukka (was supposed to be Luke Cage) |
Life was great! We had a bunch of babies everywhere, the 2 new turkeys were such sweeties too. I don't know what people are on about turkeys not being nice. They loved to snuggle and they were always trying to get attention. Our little family had grown so much! We moved the babies to the new digs outside and both the adults and the children got along great! I was so glad to be apart of this new flock.
July 2018, the rental house's roof collapsed in the living room. We were having torrential rains, and since we moved in, the wind would blow off roof tiles. I kept hearing a tap. tap. tap. in the living room and I could not figure out the noise. Finally, at 11 pm I figured it out. I spring up in the middle of watching TV and flip on all the lights. Immediately I see the bulging ceiling and the drip marks all over the cat tower. We jump into action! Moving everything away from that corner of the house as possible. Buckets were placed under the drip and on the edge of the wall where it was dribbling down.
The landlord came over the next day to throw on some new roof tiles, and as he was hammering away, the ceiling came down.
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| You can see outside! Yuck! |
We were told that they were going to remodel the whole house and that we need to find a new place to live. Well shit! This house was so good to us! The yard was big, in a rural area, the house was big and cheap and we were happy! This was just the worrrrst! So we sat on our thumbs the rest of July. We were stressed out, and wasn't yet motivated to find a place that would allow all of our pets.
August rolled around, and my brother calls, telling us that he's found the perfect place for us and we need to get pre-approved right this instant. He was going to show it to someone else the next day and he knew they would take it, and he wanted us to get in there first. That was all the motivation we needed. Devin hurried and got pre-approved and we went in. The house was smaller, but it had a good layout and a fully fenced in yard. I was hooked. I could see our little family settling in nicely. Todd thought it was a good house and would be fine. Devin, however, is the king of hating change. He did not like the house, didn't want to buy a home, and wanted to continue looking. But, we didn't have time for that! So he caved, and we put in an offer on the home. At this time, I went around looking for a new job, so that we could afford to live in this new home.
Did we get the house? What about the chickens? Did Kat get a new job? Tune in next week for part 3!
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