Poor Chicken Little!

The rain has been coming down for three days now and our batteries are starting to run down a little. Sure won't be on-line much today as it is looks like I might have a bit of an adventure and actually (gasp!) leave the farm!

Sometimes it is a month or more before I set foot off this wonderful spot and I've decided that is a bit too long. So, I'm off today to see what sort of trouble I can get into. Not really, but when I write it like that it sounds like fun! I am a bit worried however about leaving. It seems like just when things are getting better something happens.

Take my poor little hen who almost got eaten by the fox. (If you haven't read that post you can find it here) She recovered fairly well, although the damage to her leg muscles must have been more severe than originally thought as she has never been able to walk very fast since and refused to climb up to a roost at night despite our lovely roosters pleading.

Then yesterday I found her huddled in a corner of the barn unable to walk. Poor girl! She must have been outside as she was soaking wet, but obviously the trip had been too much for her and she just couldn't go any further. What happened to her? I think she probably got stepped on when the boys were playing. They are pretty careful and leave the chickens alone but accidents can happen.

What to do? The other chickens were loving the barn and doing well there but it was obvious she had to have a safer place. Since the baby chicks are taking up the coop I thought maybe if I penned her in there it might just work. She would be dry and safe. Of course, with 19 little chickens running around she might not get any peace either! So I quickly rigged her a little cage. So far it is working just fine! Yeah!! Actually I think I will leave her there if it works out. Once she heals up maybe she can give those little ones some advice on how to act like a chicken and do chicken things. Here's hoping this works out!

Poor girl! She even laid an egg this morning for me.

The chicks are fascinated by her and I found them all cuddled up as close as they could get to her this morning.

Hard to believe how big they are getting! I'm glad they are so friendly but it does make it hard to walk sometimes.