Until this morning, I have lost four out of five chicks. I wanted to keep the last chick. So, I started to prepare a cage that would be secured on all sides. While I was working on it this morning, I heard a beeping noise in the stable. I looked and saw the chick sitting on the perch and beeping. I thought it would come. The mother was already outside and seemed calm and wasn't worried. So I went back to the cage and continued working on it. After a while I heard another beeping sound, now it sounded desperate. I looked again - the chick was gone! I couldn't find it outside either. My explanation: The cat had sneaked into the stable in the morning. The other chickens were either already outside or they ran away out of fear of the cat. The mother probably also had less of a protective instinct and saw already the chick as independent. And finally the cat snapped... Now all the chicks are dead. I'm experiencing this for the first time. In the past I have lost a few chicks to a fox, but never to a cat. I take it as a warning for next year.

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Beauti and Dödi

Beauti and Dödi, now without chicks. I had figs in my hand and Beauty saw it...

Beauti is higher in the chicken rank than Dödi. As long as Dödi had chicks, Beauti often chased Dödi away at feeding time. After all the chicks were dead, Dödi and Beauti stood silently head to head for about a minute. The scene touched me, it reminded me of human grief after losing a family member.