That Was a Close Call

After the mother hen took her chicks from the nest two weeks ago, she would not take them back to the hen house at night. So I set an old ferret cage out by the hen house for her. I had to put her in the cage the first few nights; then she would just go in every night and I would go out and close the cage. That was working well. Then last week a raccoon tried to get her. I had an old sheet on two sides of the cage to prevent a coon from reaching through and getting a baby. He got a hand full of feathers from the mother. As a result, she wouldn't go in at night. I would have to go get her and the chicks and put her in every night. I also covered most of the cage with the sheet and set a trap for the coon. Since the chicks are two weeks old now, I made a little nest on the ground in the hen house for her and the chicks and put her in there. Hopefully, this will work out okay and she will start going back in every night.