Breaking news on the chicken front! A coup dtat has taken place! (Dare I call it a coop dtat?) The smaller of the two roosters, a feisty Buff Orpingon, has dethroned the larger one, a Wyandotte. The battle must have been bloody; the victor has spattered blood on his neck, and theres blood on the wall of the chicken coop. The result is that the victor has his harem of a dozen or so hens, while the loser is chased any time he comes near to them.Over the summer we lost ten hens because we let them free-range. Candidates for the predator: fox, coyote, bobcat (seen by a neighbor), bear even; but since weve not seen much gore but only, every once in a while, a scattering of feathers, were wondering also about raptors, perhaps a hawk or a turkey vulture.