Monday, May 2, 2011

And now for the amaaaaaaaazing Daisy Houdini Chicken!

In an effort of full disclosure, I'll tell you right off the bat that I like my animals/pets to either be really, really smart, or really stupid not smart. I thought that the chickens (Daisy in particular) fit comfortably in category #2 until today.




5-2-daisy



Let me tell you the story of the Houdini chicken.



I'm a night owl, I always have been and I'm ok with that. This is why you see lots of posts from me pop up at midnight. The down side to this, is that I'm a "late" sleeper. Late meaning, about 8:30.

This means that most mornings, either Gene or Tanner will open the coop pop up door and let the chickens into the run where their water is left, but they don't get to go out into the yard until I get up, and decide to be unlazy enough to go let them out into the grass to eat my flower bed.

grr.

So this morning, I trudged out to the coop, all the while you as they see me coming closer the pecking on the inside of the glass door increases. I swear they must have thought I was dipped in crack corn as appealing as I was.

The door opens, everyone is out and all is good. I come back into the house and see a few bread heels I saved back for the chickens, turned around and immediately went back outside.

As I'm tearing off large chunks I search for Daisy - the dumbest cutest of all the chickens. She's super friendly to the point that the other chickens pick on her and never let her have any bread, so I wanted to give it to her directly so she'd have some.

Except she was GONE.
POOF.

*no*
*where*

I counted numerous times and came up with 18 (we have 19). I triple checked the coop, under the nesting boxes, under the deck (her favorite spot)... nothing. I finally started walking around the house, around the shed, back to the first spots again, now looking for a pile of feathers or a dead chicken.

Then I get a little teary-eyed because Daisy is usually the last one in the coop - that part about the other chickens picking on her keeps her out later than the others. Couple that with the fact that Gene and his visiting buddy cooped them up (and both had had *several* beers), I was positive that Daisy had been left out all night.

Her response to a raccoon would go something like this:
Daisy: "Oh hai! I'm Daisy. I'm a chicken. You're cool looking. I like your eye patches. What's your name?"
Raccoon: {pause for effect} "Nom nom nom"


It was then, that I noticed far off in the distance a roaming black dog. I can see a good 1/2-1 mile in most directions (flat as a pancake down here in the gully). Being slightly emotionally charged, I decide that I'll check out the dog to see if it happens to be covered in blood and chicken feathers - and if it is, well, doggie was gonna take a big dirt nap.

Now before you get all bent out of shape - once a dog kills a chicken, they'll come back and kill every single one until they're gone. Just for the fun of it. I'm way more scared of stray dogs than I am raccoons where the chickens are concerned.

Where breaking into my crawlspace and giving birth is concerned?
Raccoons 1

Stray Dogs 0.

Luckily I couldn't remember where I put my car keys (this is not an unusual problem for me. I need a 15 cent hook. I swear to Jesus.) I finally remembered they were in my camera bag, grabbed the pistol and head out the door. Hop in the car (it's hot) roll down the window, look out to make sure I'm not going to run over a chicken and look who is standing there:


5-2-daisy2


Little Miss Houdini Chicken!
Wth?
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN??"

She came out of thin air. Looked up at me and was like: "Oh hai! I'm Daisy. I'm a chicken. You're cool looking. Your hair is funny. Got any corn? What's your name?"

Sigh.

Stupid chicken.
Or
maybe she's really, really smart.

There may be some testing.
It will probably involve BBQ sauce.


FYI: I did check out the dog, he ran like hell when I pulled up (a mile from the house) to look at him. He then headeded that direction and all the while watching me, giving the house a wide berth. Wise dog.

3 comments:

Nesha said...

ha lovin the first picture.

nesha,
http://thebuttonowl.co.uk/

massagemick said...

hai??? wth is that?

Mz-Cellaneous said...

it's LOLcat speak. It means "Hi". you need enlightenment.

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