We did not make it through the winter unscathed. After a 3 night battle with the weasel, we are left with only two chickens (out of six) and fresh weasel tracks around the old coop every day. The remaining two hens are sleeping in our basement for safety while our repeated attempts to trap the little predator are unsuccessful. One thing I have learned: weasels can and will rip through old chicken wire. We thought we had the ramshackle coop we were forced to use sealed up pretty well, but it seems like a weasel will find that one spot you never even saw. So the moral of the story is: never, ever use an old dilapidated coop unless you have no other choice (which we didn't, at the time).
Kenny working on the new coop.
As soon as the new coop is built and the weasel removed, we plan to increase our flock to 15 for now and 30 when we build a second, identical coop. We've already had several people express interest in buying eggs as well as encourage us to put a sign on the road for extra customers, so we think we'll do alright.
As long as there are no weasels.
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