Chickens

This vacant house is across the fence at the back of our home. Recently we called the police when we saw 3 young boys go in around 8:00am. The house has been vacant for many months. Windows have been left open and I think the inside must be trashed. We knew these boys did not belong. By the time the police got there with a canine and flushed them out the final count of youngsters in the house was about 8 with one getting away. I never did learn what they were doing in there. Boys AND girls. Obviously others had gone in earlier that I had not seen. ANYWAY my purpose for this photo is to show a hen and 2 chIcks in the center of the photo headed for underneath the vacant house. They had been headed for my FLOWER BED!!! They saw me trying to get a picture and ran to hide. They have been scratching in my flower bed unearthing my plants and scattering my mulch till you can't tell where the mulch is. I have enjoyed watching the chickens until now. There are 4 hens and 1 rooster belonging to someone back in that neighborhood but I am not sure they are being cared for. 1 hen recently had about 8 chicks and another 5. So the population grew exponentially. I have noticed that the hen with 5 has lost 2 or 3 chicks by now. We have hawks and other predators that love a tender juicy chick.