Eggs (week ending 4/16): 48
Eggs (year to date): 664

Owing to having a part in a community theater production, I've been getting home to lock up the chickens after dark. Last Thursday night, after making sure the chookens were all locked up in their coop, I noticed that one of the young Easter Eggers and one of the meat birds were outside. I chased them back in, started to leave the barnyard...

...and discovered the half-eaten remains of another meat bird. It was wedged under the door of an unused stall of the barn as if something had tried to drag it inside. So I turned on the light and opened the door, and there in the corner was Possum #3.

I shut the door. Ran into the house. Grabbed my .22 pistol. Ran back out, turned on the light in the stall. Possum still there. Took care of the problem.

We're down to six meat birds now. I guess I should have dressed these three possums out and thrown them on the grill to make up for the food they're taking out of the mouths of my family. And that's just the meat part. They've also eaten three Buff Orpington, two Barred Rock, and one Easter Egger chick. So egg production took a hit, too.

Well, at least I have some more chicks coming - the mutt birds and some White Leghorns from the chick hatching project I donated some eggs to. For now I'm still disgruntled about those accursed possums.

At least they can't carry off my daughter's kid goats. See? There's something to be grateful for.