Sad day for our flock.

Imagine Maggie’s shock when she found an additional bird in the chicken coop this morning:

Clark and Maggie designed the coop to protect her hens from predators, and so far it’s held up well. We haven’t lost a single bird to a bear, and last year it protected the ladies from a hungry lynx family. Nothing has been able to penetrate their well-built henhouse.

Until today.

The coop has a ventilation window, and this ornery owl ripped out the screen to gain access to the sleeping hens. We have no idea what time it happened, but likely in the middle of the night.

By the time Maggie arrived on the scene, she found one trapped, terrified (but satiated) owl, two dead, decapitated chickens, and seven surviving hens huddled in the egg boxes.

She tried to shoo the owl out of the coop, but the confused bird wouldn’t leave the corner. Fortunately Clark hadn’t left for work yet, and he ran out to assist.

Mother nature is so cruel. How do you choose to root for the predator or the prey?

If we’d been watching a David Attenborough nature show we’d likely find ourselves rooting for a nest full of fluffy Great Horned owlets. But the minute Mama Owl enters our chicken coop things change, and we most definitely want our hens to survive. To heck with those cute little owlets!

Still, there was never a question that we’d do anything but let this beautiful creature go. It was amazing to watch it fly away, free once again.

We had planned to give the chickens a flock block for Christmas, but we put it in the coop later that day. We decided a better holiday gift will be bars on their window screen!