OK, here’s a piece of advice for new chicken owners: inspect your coop on a regular basis. Check the structure for holes, rot, rust — any way a predator could get in.

One awful summer I faced flock carnage.  I couldn’t figure out how my chickens were being slaughtered in the evenings, locked up in their coop. This went on for three nights and I was starting to panic as the body count mounted up. I was about 8 months pregnant – I hauled my gigantic body on top of the coop to discover hundreds of little muddy raccoon hand prints, and a corner of chicken wire that had been peeled away as an entrance. Grrrr.

When your chicken wire starts to get rusty, weak, or bent out of shape, it’s a good idea to peel it off and slap on a fresh batch. My sweet husband spent the weekend doing this for me, check out how nice it looks! The original wire lasted almost 3 years, but I was about a year overdue on this update.

I was checking into a flight at the Nashville airport when I saw an amazing photography exhibit.

Artist Sharon Lee Hart’s “Sanctuary” exhibition features residents of farm animal sanctuaries, including some cool roosters. I’m not usually impressed by animal portraits, they can be cheesy. Hart captures the personalities of these animals in interesting, beautiful photographs. I wish she would photograph my flock!

The exhibit will be on view through March 4, 2012. You can see her photos at farmanimalsanctuaryproject.com.

Another photo from the archives!