One of our chickens was attacked by a possum on Monday. I had Karol go out and check on the chickens (mainly their water and food) and the poor kid came in crying, saying that one of the chickens was dead. Karol was so upset and worried how we were going to have enough eggs.
Joshua wasn’t home when Karol discovered the chicken, so I called him while going out to check on things. Sure thing, one of the chickens was dead.  It was a bit surprising as we have had them since January, and they’ve been outside since March (first in a hutch, then in an open pen, where they have lots of room roam).
Karol spent the rest of the day talking a bit about the chicken he found, then playing make believe about chickens who die. I figured this was probably healthy.
When Joshua came home, we assessed the situation and buried the chicken.
That evening, another chicken was attacked, and Joshua discovered it was a possum that was doing the attacking.
The other chicken is still alive though, in the house (in a box), relaxing, receiving tlc from the Facekids (and well, their parents too).
The other chickens have to be put in the hutch at night now, something I am not sure they are fans of and something we aren’t excited about. (We want them to be able to stretch out and peck about as much as possible.)
It looks like we might be needing to get a dog, to protect the chickens. We are looking around for something, but most dogs here that are in our price range (free) are mixed with bird dogs (not good with chickens) or a dangerous breed like pit bull.
Editing this one to say that we did lose the second chicken….but we haven’t seen the possum for a while either.Â
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