Yesterday evening proved to be very exciting and a whole lot scary.
The girls got to get out and run the yard when Cooper was here. Just after he left I decided that the herbs were looking a little like they were dying of thirst. So I got get the hose like I always do and bring it through the front gate. The Girls and I were watering and talking our way through watering the herbs and the raised beds. I shooed them over to the other side of the yard so I could open the gate to turn off the water and wind up the hose. With hose in hand I pulled the nozzle down to the spigot and out of the corner of my eye I see Scamp from next door wondering around the driveway. Guess I'm just not a quick as I once way because he got by me in a flash. I dropped the hose and tied to calmly call him to come to me...offering treats and everything. No way...he had a bead on The Girls. They started to scatter all over the yard. Scamp was running on all directions trying to figure out who he wanted to play with first. I was running behind him yelling at the top of my lungs and then everything switched to slow motion. I'm trying to run to catch Scamp...like a crazy woman gone off the deep end. Mr. John and his buddy figured out what was happening. Mark and Michael were sitting in the kitchen working on Scout merit badges and never heard a thing. Scamp chased four of The Little Girls around the backside of the coop. By the time they made it to the backside of The Big Girls Run I couldn't see Scamp's head. All I saw was a head of feathers. I threw my gloves at him and dove. Thank you Jesus that it was a direct hit. Poor Sunny just collapsed on the ground...shell shocked I am certain! I got Scamp. I turned around and there was Mr. John. His face was as white as a sheet. He was so worried. I handed over Scamp and told him not to worry about it. I know that probably some day the mean old hawk or a dog or cat from the neighborhood will get one of The Girls. It won't be pretty. And I will hate it and be sad...but as Michael says...'it's just the circle of life, Mom.'
Sonny now has about 5 tail feathers. I am sure at some point they will grow back. I checked her for injuries. No blood anywhere thank heavens. She wasn't moving too much. I seriously think she was in shock.
I put her on my lap and started rubbing her and taking really soft to her. All the time I am pulling out feathers. She was panting when we first sat down but then she calmed down after about 30 minutes. She fell asleep in my arms and would have stayed there all night if I would have let her.
When Ms. Renee came home from work the guy helping Mr. John told her that they almost had chicken for dinner. She was so worried. She came over, in tears, to check on Sunny. We sat with her, feathers still falling out and Sunny still sleeping, and I told her that it was okay, Not to worry about it, Just part of having animals. (One of the kids up the street lost the bunny that she was using for her 4H project the other night.) Feathers by the compost bins were whipping around. And then we saw a little bird pick up one of Sunny's feathers and fly towards Ms. Renee's yard, probably to build her nest. So all in all it was lots better than it could have been. Thank heavens!
When I got home from my meeting last night I went to the coop praying that she wouldn't be on the ground pecked to death by the other girls. Or over in the corner not able to move because there were internal injuries. Nope...she was on the roost with the other girls. And this morning I found her eating and clucking like nothing had ever happened. Now I wonder if the whole ordeal scared her enough not to lay eggs for a few days. Stress will do that to a chicken. She seems fine.
Today while the yahoos and I were out in the yard Mr. John yelled over the fence to tell me that he was putting dirt all along the fence filling in all the gaps. He's afraid that now that Scamp knows there are chickens he might try to visit again. We all will keep our fingers crossed.
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