Friday, November 07, 2008

Chickicide


I was checking around in the barn this morning before coming back inside to get ready for work, when I saw the unbelievable. Sure, I had been warned...but hearing and seeing are two different things. Some of the mature chicks, kind of teen-aged, were in the pig pen eating left-over pig feed out of their dish. I heard lots of fussing and peeping and went over to check it out when I saw, to my horror, a fuzzy leg sticking out of one piggie's mouth. She had eaten a chicken! The kids at school had told me tales of pigs eating chickens and even raccoons. As I was telling the student who sold me the piggies in school today, a passing student heard what I was saying and called out, Yeah! Pigs eat chickens! (Pig farmers are common in this area.) Well, my student told me to keep the chickens out of the pig pen. This is easier said than done. I hope the chickens are wise to the trap. I'm sure the poor mother hen was having a heart attack to see this happen to one of her cherished babies. Shearing tomorrow - I have the sheep locked in the barn for fear of rain tonight. I have some sheep who are choking with wool and I want to get it off before the real cold weather hits and stays with us.

4 comments:

Anna said...

Holy cow! I never knew....

Kathleen said...

Unfortunately, chickens never seem to remember things like "pigs eat chickens", and "horses are very heavy". It's almost as if every day is the first day of the rest of their lives. Innocent and gullible to the end.

Anonymous said...

Some friends of ours raised a few pigs. One of their daughters (7 or 8) caught a large frog that she was treating as a pet.

Well, some friends come over and she went to show them the pigs...the poor frog leaped out of her hands and was gobbled up in front of her!

Maggie's Farm said...

Yikes! Frogs, too? Sounds like they'll eat anything that moves! I started giving them pumpkins in between feedings to keep their tummies satisfied!