Goodness, where has the time gone? I apologize to all my dedicated readers for slipping. Here is a picture of Matthew with our new(ish) chicken, Saphira. Our neighbors gave her to us when they realized she was a bit too difficult to care for. They lose that baby chick cuteness fast. Anyway, she is as tame as a parrot and will sit on your shoulder anytime. Watch out though, she likes to peck at things and she's pecked at my tooth a couple of times.
Unbelievably, all our chickens our safe even though a racoon lives somewhere nearby. I can hear him at night, his eerie chatter wakes me at about three in the morning. I send our dog out for a quick sniff which seems to deter him. One night the racoon caught our chicken Tina, who preferred roosting outside of the coop at night. I yelled out the window, "Stop that, stop!" (as if he understood me) and ran outside. He had let go of her and she just lay on the ground, a still heap of feathers. I thought for sure she was a goner, but then we noticed that she was still breathing! Almost half of her feathers had been pulled off and I wasn't sure whether she would make it through the night. I put her in our shed in a little box and anxiously awaited morning. By morning she was out of her box and wandering around the shed. She had even laid an egg! When she saw that I had opened the door to the shed for her, she ran out and miraculously wasn't the worse for wear. You can bet she roosts in the coop every night now!
Oh, and as a little side note, our neighbor got some chickens this spring. And guess what? One is a rooster!! Now I'll hear the wonderful crowing of a rooster every day and not feel guilty. Now, as he's still trying out his teenager voice, he sounds pretty bad. Good thing he doesn't have to endure acne as well.