Chicken Update

We have had quite a lot going on in Chickenland. We gave 3 chickens to a good friend who wanted a chicken family of her own. That brought us down to 5 chickens, which is a good number. One of them, as seen in pictures, was getting picked-or pecked on by the others. I was so sad to look at. We tried to separate them, but the abused always wants to go back to the abuser(s). After a few days apart things seem to get better until...one morning when I went to get them food and realized that there were only 4 chickens in the coop. I was quite disappointed in the lack of confidence that my husband holds for me, as he had to count the chickens for himself when he got home. I can count to five everyone, but there were only four in the coop. One escaped and was gone for a few days before anyone even noticed. I had another get-away chicken that snuck out our fence a few weeks later while we were cleaning the coop and doing yard work. As foolish as I looked chasing a chicken around neighbors yards and our greenbelt I was able to bring the lady home. Then we started molting and we were at a loss for eggs. Matt was already making plans to kill the chickens. They only had a few weeks left and must have sensed it, because they started laying again. So 2 years ago we started with 10 chickens and 2010 has brought us to 4.