I have lost track of the days since an animal attack left two of the remaining five chicks seriously wounded. I think it was Sunday night, but I am far from certain. The meat chicken we call, "Shaq" was left with no skin or feathers on his/her wing joint. Meat chickens can't really fly anyway, but it is painful to look at the naked bone, anyway. The blood crusting under the wing is hard to get to without making the chick panic and reeks of worrisome tells. The chick we call, "Little Bertha" may have lost her left eye. I can't really tell what is under the scab covering it yet. It took some days just to arrest the infection which had already set in by the time she/he let me catch him/her. The rest of her/his wounds are healing nicely.

For sure, it was Monday that I splurged $125.00 of credit card debt on the rabbit hutch which has since become the hospital room. The healthy 3 chicks have been sleeping there, as well. The arrangement is working well, but anchors me to supervising their bed-time. The same door which keeps the sick chicks in also keeps the healthy chicks out. Last night I was late for bed-time and found all 3 healthy chicks clinging by their claws to the hard-wire net of the rabbit hutch, crying and flapping their wings dramatically.

For now, my tinker focus has shifted from the couch-to-coop conversion to tightening up the provisions within the make-shift structure where the old hens have been roosting at night. Chill rains and nights are becoming more common here in Central Texas. Yes, we will have those glorious, warm "winter" days that Central Texas is famous for, but that only makes the natives more vulnerable to the chill. Zero resistance and system shocking differentials. . .

Just an update. . . Onward through the chicken droppings. . .