VDOT Causes Livestock Deaths

This happened Wednesday, June 27th. Some people might be disturbed by the pictures. Believe me, the pictures don't show the whole story. We didn't think to take pictures of the worst part, because we were in shock.

Wednesday we had to go out to buy a battery for the van and pick up some presents for our son's third birthday coming up. But as luck would have it, the van wouldn't start. Our nice neighbor kindly gave the van a jump start for us. She talked to us about our beautiful flock of chickens, who are quite friendly and will come right up to you. They come when you call them. They will sit in your lap. We were all smiling and admiring them, not knowing what the future held. Just so you know, our chickens are our pets and quite loved.

It was dusk when we returned home. The chickens go in on their own at dusk to roost. My oldest daughter refills their water and closes their door. When we got home some of the chickens came out. We didn't think anything of it, because they know the sound of our van and will come out to greet us, following us to the front door. Nathan went back out to get stuff out of the van. He came back in and said something was wrong because some of the chickens were roosting in the tree, something they never do. My oldest daughter went out. All I could hear was her screams. Nathan and I both ran out there. It was a vision that you never want to see. Feathers were everywhere. We have a wire pen to keep the younger chicks separated from the older chickens. Almost all of them were dead. Four were injured and bleeding. Some of the dead chickens had the feathers scraped off their sides and backs. One was completely missing a leg. Some of the chicks, which were in the pen, were completely missing. A wing was laying in the pen but the body was missing. Some of the dead chicks' heads were pulled through the wire. The pen, itself, was completely intact. What got in and did this was small. At first I just couldn't think of what kind of animal would do this kind of needless, brutal slaughter of so many chickens (besides a human). I thought only humans could be this cruel and destructive.

Outside feathers were everywhere. Body parts were everywhere. I got my oldest daughter to help me round up what chickens we could find. We needed to know who was missing. We found them in the tree and in bushes, all cuddled up tightly to one another. Some of the chickens came to us. Others were too scared to move. Finally we got them all in. We were missing a third of our flock, close to 30 chickens. My oldest daughter's Polish chick, which she had loved, was dead in the pen. Her Polish cross chicks from her older Polish hen were missing out of the pen. My youngest daughter's purebred Silkie chick she had raised from her Silkies was dead in the pen. Some of my beloved Cochin bantams were missing.

But worst of all, my youngest daughter's favorite new pullet was missing. She was a Cochin/Silkie cross and she was the sweetest thing. She would let my daughter carry her around all day. She would sit in my daughter's bike basket. My little girl loved that chicken. She had come out and was upset at what she saw, but she became inconsolable when we could not find her beloved chicken. We looked everywhere. She hung out a lot with two young Orpingtons and one we found dead, so that wasn't a good sign. I couldn't tell my little girl that her chicken was probably dead, so I told her we just couldn't find her. I was hoping she had escaped the slaughter and would turn up. But of course, that didn't happen. We haven't found her body at all. Not one day has gone by that my daughter hasn't cried for her chicken. She drew a picture and wrote her chicken's name and her name on a paper, then placed it outside in the front yard. She told me that maybe her chicken would see it,  know that she loved her and could find her way home. It broke my heart.
 Here are some of the pictures:

This is only a small amount of the feathers which were in the yard.

More chunks of feathers.

What is left of my white Cochin bantam hen.

White Cochin bantam wing.

Our only hen who survived being attacked. This is the wound on her.

Dismembered legs and a wing.

Another wing.

Legs.

Wing.

A headless chicken body.

Believe me, it was even worse inside where the pen was. It was just so horrible. We did find out what disgusting animal did this nightmare. It was a weasel. It came back. We scared it off, but I'm sure it will be back again.

In all of the four years that we have lived here, we have not had a predator problem. Not until VDOT cleared away the brush and trees near the pond across the street. Weasels live near water sources, such as ponds. They supposedly only go after poultry if their environment loses small prey populations. One week VDOT clears the area near the pond and displaces all the small prey. They cleared it down to the red clay. Nothing can live there now. The next week with the small prey gone, the weasel decided to come onto our property to kill our chickens. I read that they are vicious and kill needlessly. Thirty chickens was more than one weasel could eat. But VDOT is too stupid to see the cause and effect of their actions. I guess they weren't paying attention in school to learn about cause and effect. VDOT took away the wildlife's homes so the weasel attacked our livestock from lack of other food. They actually laughed at our misfortune. They laughed at our chickens' deaths. More reason to hate VDOT. See, I was right about VDOT workers not having morals or values. To laugh at someone's misfortune is deplorable and low. Inhuman. They could never make up for the pain they caused us and our chickens. Our remaining hens have been so upset since the attack that they have stopped laying, so no eggs for my family. Thirty chickens gone forever.


Note to a certain reader: chickens do not swim or get in water.