If you want to know what to look out for, Stoats seem to kill the birds by attacking their throats, and then disembowling them, my birds have been killed in this way every time. Bantams and chicks are extremely vunerable, but large birds can be at risk too, this morning I discovered that whilst I was away a pen of my large birds had not been put away at night, and one of my Barnevelder hens had been attacked. Thankfully she only seems to have a few minor wounds around her head and neck and a good clump of tail feathers missing, but she is in a bit of a state non the less. I have segregated her from the others so that I can get hold of her easily whilst I administer  antibiotics for her injuries (her face seems quite swollen so there is a possibility of infection).

These experiences have taught me some tough lessons, you only need to slip up once  and you can be punished harshly. You should never underestimate wild animals, and always try to find out what you are dealing with when an attack like this occurs. It’s apparent that you can never be too over-protective when it comes to keeping poultry, especially at night, make all your poultry houses as secure as possible.

After a rocky start the weather seemed to settle down so I made good progress, but when the next hail-storm started the sack of dry woodshavings was outside, and since these bags are so heavy I decide not to try and rush it back to shed, but instead sit on it to keep it dry… so I sat there squinting as the hail pelted down on me, watching the chickens sheltering underneath their houses wondering whether it might be time to give up… But the birds spend all day outside in this weather and I thought the least I could do was make sure they had nice dry bedding to sleep on at night, and so I finished the last house, and went in feeling satisfied that I had successfully battled against the elements and come out victorious! (well, sort of).