The Emotional Roller Coaster of My New Chicken Ownership

I have wanted to have chickens forever.  So we moved to a place where we could:

 

After moving in and getting the garden going, we got the chicks, two guinea keets and four barred rocks.

 

Then we got two more guinea keets and four Easter Eggers (they lay colored eggs!):

 

We built a “Hoop Coop”

 

And learned all about our fowl:

 

THEN I got the cookies scared out of me:

And in the same day, learned how much I love my chickens!

 

So this is where I am with it now:

 

What ways do you keep your chickens safe when they are running around? I have also learned from a fellow homesteader that hawks are deterred by crows, so at Halloween I will be stocking up on life-size decoys!!