It wasn’t a good start to the day. As the truck pulled up in front of the chick nursery a White Leghorn pullet pulled up in front of the truck. In stereo from within the beat up farm Chevi, there was a unanimous “chick loose !!!” just as Bran the Border Collie noticed the errant white bird. As one we tumbled out of the truck as Bran, tail wagging and ears alert barked, the panicked chick took off into the wilderness like the proverbial Road Runner. Greg took chase, Christina followed, Bran barked some more,…. louder and the white chick disappeared into the depths of the blackberry patch. Greg pounced, the blackberries fought back and the runaway took to the air. The little white chick landed in Charm and Starbuck’s pasture. Both horses, familiar with the larger Canada Geese, hawks, eagles and herons are unfamiliar with the common white chicken…(particularly when it is descending from a clear blue sky) panicked. After much huffing puffing and posturing, ( the horses ), the escapee ( little white chick) took to the air once again and the recovery party accepted the inevitable. Some racoon, eagle hawk or cat was going to enjoy a chicken takeaway. The ranch rescue party suspended the retrieval exercise and reluctantly left the escapee to fend for itself until either it gave itself up (unlikely) or we learnt to fly (impossible). Despondently and battle scarred from forays into unwelcoming Blackberry bushes we headed back down to the barn to work out how to transform our little chicken pen into Folsom Prison….determined there would be no more break outs on our watch. There was a little hole….it was determined that the chick had made it’s run (flight) through THAT little hole…unlikely, but there WAS a hole. Then I turned around and there was a HUGE hole ( much more likely...uh….certainly!!!) Christina and I got to work with netting, stapler and a ladder. It might not be pretty… but a fly will have a problem getting through our defences and a chicken certainly wont get out again.
Just when we’d given the runaway up as MIA, a little bobbing white tail appeared in the high grass, Bran the Border collie was securely kept away from the great chicken roundup and Greg pounced again. Missed…..again. The chick took off and settled on the branch of a big cedar tree, well out of reach and a long way from the chicken pen. Ever resourceful, Greg and Christina threw the only missiles available ( and plentiful !) into the tree….horse poop…and the chick flew again….across the road. On watch from the crest of the hill I saw the little white bird land, Greg and Christina set off in hot pursuit. It was the chicks last mistake ( the first was escaping !), the tree stump in which she had taken refuge had no way out and with much squeaking and squawking she was returned to her newly reinforced pen. What a team !!!
Time to go, take care, M
Just when we’d given the runaway up as MIA, a little bobbing white tail appeared in the high grass, Bran the Border collie was securely kept away from the great chicken roundup and Greg pounced again. Missed…..again. The chick took off and settled on the branch of a big cedar tree, well out of reach and a long way from the chicken pen. Ever resourceful, Greg and Christina threw the only missiles available ( and plentiful !) into the tree….horse poop…and the chick flew again….across the road. On watch from the crest of the hill I saw the little white bird land, Greg and Christina set off in hot pursuit. It was the chicks last mistake ( the first was escaping !), the tree stump in which she had taken refuge had no way out and with much squeaking and squawking she was returned to her newly reinforced pen. What a team !!!
Time to go, take care, M
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