Catching up & burying the dead

 Ok, someone other than my mom requested I update my blog! LOL No offense mom, but I still don't technically exist in "blogger land".

Well, I haven't been on here since Feb. so, I have alot of catching up to do.
Here's the short list, not necessarily in correct order:

*"Outback" (the cow) has grown
*We had some chicks hatch
*Our dear beloved "Elvis" (1 of our fave roos) has been snatched by coyotes
*My hubby thought he had a heart attack, turned out to be stress
*Our oldest son got married & turned 19
*I had some wonderful bonding time w/ my daughter-in-law during wedding prep.
*Our granddaughter, Emily, has gotten in her 1st tooth
*We taught Vacation Bible School at church
*We had our 20th anniversary
*I am learning ASL (American Sign Language)
*Gave an educational tour of the "farm" 
*My cell phone died taking a "milk bath"
*Mom got contact lenses, still no radio show
*My brother & his wife came out from NY for the wedding
*School let out for summer
*Our 15 yr old is job hunting
*Our youngest (13) is gearing up for full on tackle football
*He was cleared by his Neurosurgeon to play
*I just know I'm forgetting some things.......
*And, most recently, we lost a bunch of hens to some neighborhood dogs.

Expanding on that, we had left for a friend's wedding & in the rush forgot to lock the chicken coop for the night.  Upon returning home we discover a dead hen in our driveway & thought it might have been coyotes.
I decided not to patrol the property, in the dark of night, in my heels & fancy dress. Though I have been known to do so before.
Having changed clothes & retrieved the flashlight, I discovered 5 chicken carcasses scattered around our property. My youngest son found one poor hen still clinging to life, but covered in ants. We tried to get all the ants off & placed her in a cage to rest, but she died the next morning.
One terrified hen was hiding under the horse trailer, & had to be pulled out. She is re"coop"erating in "hospital" & looks promising.
I realized there had to be some hens MIA because my white leghorn was gone & there were white feathers everywhere. She & Elvis were the only white chickens, and he's been gone for awhile.

I deduced (using my detective skills, lol), that it was Colonel Mustard, in the study, who used a candlestick!
Oh, sorry, I got carried away for a minute.

At 1st I thought maybe it had been a pack of coyotes; the older ones killing & carrying off the MIA's, and the carcasses left by the younger ones "practicing" their hunting skills.
But, when 2 hens (1 was the white leghorn) came out of hiding the next morning, I knew this was the work of neighborhood dogs. 
See, the coyote's MO is to kill 1 or 2, leave few feathers & carry off the dead to be consumed. (the only exception I have seen is when one female coyote killed several of our hens & came back to carry them off 1 by 1 to her pups.)
However, the neighborhood dog's MO is to kill several chickens, leaving the bodies & feathers everywhere.
Coyotes are calculating & careful, they just want to eat.
Dogs are messy & careless, they just want to have fun.

The next morning, guess who returns to "the scene of the crime"? Dun-dun-dun-dunhhhhh (insert suspenseful music here). 2 small dogs that belong to one of my neighbors.
Is it possible for 2 small, lapdog size canines to take down that many chickens? I suspect so since there wasn't more damage done to the carcasses & they gave chase to one of the hens while I was watching.

Now, the unfortunate task, having to tell my dear sweet neighbors that their cute little pooches are really cold blooded killers. I will be kind, & non accusatory, but I'm hoping for some kind of restitution. Not money per say, but some form of apology & reassurance the little butchers will be kept in their own yard.
I'm not looking forward to this, but they need to know.
If the shoe were on the other foot, I would give them the same number of my best laying hens to replace their loss, keep the dogs indoors & only take them out on leashes.
If only we had locked the coop.

Toodles!