Wednesday, December 17, 2008

War Wounds

We almost had our own Mike the Chicken today. The Rooster was inside the house working while The Ladies were outside pecking around for their typical afternoon promenade. Suddenly, Big Sister started whining at the back door despite having just gone out. The Rooster got up to investigate and saw only a large hawk perched about fifteen feet up a tree in the backyard, no chickens anywhere.

The hawk flew off but The Ladies remained hidden until The Rooster could coax them out with some scratch; you wouldn't believe how well camouflaged The Ladies are when buried in the hedge. We're not sure what happened, but Ringo seems to have engaged the avian enemy. Whether the interaction was offensive or defensive we'll never know, but Ringo will carry a couple war wounds.

There seem to be no lasting injuries, just a bit of bloody/missing comb and some ruffled feathers.  When returned to the coop, Ringo hid under the nesting box to recover more fully from the shock. Updates will be posted as information develops.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow. Your backyard is a hunting ground. I bet Scout would protect them. Unleash the furry beast on the hawk!