A Near (Chicken) Death Experience

Its been a while since I've experienced blood-pumping emergency adrenaline mode, but yesterday it happened. We try to let the chickens out of their coop as often as possible and they were out yesterday. I was about to make Headbanger's supper when I heard a distressed squawk in the back yard. I flung open the back door to find beloved Little Brown's back end in the jaws of a vicious beast - a neighborhood dog. She was trying to run away, but the dog wasn't letting go. The rest of the chickens were hiding in the rosebushes like the cowards they are (instead of pecking the murderous creature to death as they should have been). I shouted and ran after the dog, eventually scaring it away. Flashlight must have heard what was going on, because he came flying out the back door and started throwing rocks. I should have thought of that.

Poor Little Brown was completely traumatized and missing a chunk of tail feathers. She also had a scratched and slightly bleeding nostril, but no other harm was done, thankfully. We cleaned her up and returned the chickens to their coop. When I first discovered the dreadful scene I was sure that Little Brown was a goner, but she's ok and we're so relieved. Fortunately the attacker was an tiny aging lame dachshund. If the dog was any bigger, we might have lost several birds.

I hadn't realized how attached I was to the chickens. I'd been viewing them as a future source of eggs and hadn't stopped to notice that they're great pets. They don't require much maintenance, beyond feeding. They're highly entertaining to watch - like a bunch of dim but highly strung little old ladies running around the yard. Headbanger loves them and Flashlight catches grass hoppers for them every day. They keep themselves fairly clean - not the barnyard smell you'd expect. And EVERY child who comes to our house finds them endlessly entertaining, from nieces and nephews to cub scouts to neighbor kids. Everybody loves the chickens.

After chasing the dog out of the yard, my pregnant hips are completely locked up. All the good of last week's massage has been undone. I tried to roll over in bed last night and needed Flashlight's help. Was Little Brown's life worth saving? Absolutely.