Since dealing with the County code enforcement situation(Oh, I forgot to talk about that episode!), I was keeping the girls and boys in lockdown until I return from work. Although this may not be a very good solution for them as the are used to being Free Range Chicken, they appreciated the 3-4 hours opportunity to search for worm, scratch under the leaves, taste those fresh veggie or just simply go crazy on their dustbath! So the other day I let them out and came inside to get a bite to eat. Since Lil Bit was being super stubborn about getting out of her "Broodyness" I decided to lock the run/coop after making sure she was out. What a mistake :( ... I bet she was trying hard to get inside and wasn't paying any attention like the rest who where nowhere near.
We discovered her body right near the coop, her wing was twisted badly, feathers everywhere and very little trace of blood. My primary suspect is a dog 'not' on a leash. We are starting to observe people frequenting the park adjacent to our property with dogs not on a leash. One of them perhaps spotted her or other chicken simply took cover while she fell victim. I felt even worse since I got her out of the nestbox and made her stay out. Who knew, that would be her doom!
She did have a good life otherwise. She was hatched in my incubator and then grew up to be a great little bird. My Son called her Sally, but she was well known as her other name "lilbit' .... she raised some 12 chicks, taught them well and raised 100%. She also had number of funny characteristics that were very entertaining to see.
R.I.P. Lilbit!
By the way, what do you think of these two Chocolate Cuckoo Orps? One appears to be a Hen (above) while the other one (Left) "hen" maybe a Rooster in the making? Nigel looked exactly like her (I have some picture of Nigel around that age in this blog). Difference between these two are their obvious "tail" difference. As you can see the tail from the one on the left is different
