fun yet sad

We've lost two hens already this year - one to a hawk (we think), and one to Buster. If the summer plays out like summers' past, as the young chicken hawks learn to soar, we'll lose a few more. And if the coyote that shows up some nights, driving the dog's (and me) crazy, gets more adventurous, we'll could experience a widespread slaughter. That has happened before. Those are the sad things.

But here are the good things:

The four larger ones against the back wall are the ones we got 2 weeks ago, so they're not quite 3 weeks old.

I was a little uncertain about getting so many, but Bobby reminded me they won't all make it through the summer. That is the part of raising hens I do NOT like. But I'm happy with the breed selection, and I'm looking forward to watching them grow!