Chicken in the hen house? Um...no!

Oh what a frightful day I had yesterday! First our old Lab Drake wandered off and it took a couple hours to find him. Well...technically we didn't find him, he just showed up. Don was down in the woods looking for Drake when I heard him at the garage door. Poor old Drake's been having a spell of senility so he'll be going out into the fenced in front yard from now on.

When I went out yesterday evening to do the chores I let several dogs out with me. This is routine for me and the dogs. Yesterday Maggie, Caoimhe, Seamus, Conan, Kyla and Katie went with me...the normal evening gang. As I stepped out of the garage and walked toward the chicken pen I realized the door was open and my Wyandotte chicken, Aunt Bertha, was OUTSIDE!!!

I ran to the chicken pen and tried to quickly guide her back in, but that wasn't going to happen. Chickens are not known for their high IQ. Aunt Bertha panicked and ran in the wrong direction, which caught the attention of two dogs...Maggie and Caoimhe. I'd been fortunate up to that moment that none of the six dogs had noticed the chicken was outside her pen. Now I was panicking too!

Screaming like a banshee I tried to keep Maggie and Caoimhe away while attempting to catch Aunt Bertha. It probably took just a few seconds to catch her, but it seemed like forever to me. Once I had her safely in the pen I have to admit...I shed a few tears and Aunt Bertha shed a few feathers.

I was quite upset with Don for not checking the latch when he was gathering eggs earlier in the day, but I am very grateful that the dogs were not interested in the chicken. I honestly don't think Maggie or Caoimhe had any interest in catching Aunt Bertha. No, they were just curious as to what was going on, otherwise they'd have definitely had her before I had a chance to get hold of the poor chicken.

A stressful day for sure, but you know what they say...all's well that ends well!

When your bowl is empty, sit in it!

Yesterday when I came into the garage after feeding the chickens I found Siobhan sitting in the bowl we use outdoors to feed the cats. Apparently, it was a comfy place to sit because she stayed there while I went inside to get my phone. I snapped several photos and she never got up.

Of course, she hopped right up when I opened the cat food container (we keep it in an old cooler). All the other cats came running, but I fed Siobhan first. Seemed only fair since she'd been patiently waiting in the food bowl!

Cats are so funny. I've found them curled up asleep in the kitchen sink and the bathroom sinks. I've found them in various sized boxes...some much to small to comfortably hold the cat! I've found them snoozing in plastic shopping bags and one year Hermione thought the Christmas wreath was the perfect place to nap!

They curl up with us, with the dogs and I've even found Fergus napping in the chicken house! There's not a nook or cranny in this house that I haven't discovered a cat at one time or another, but yesterday was the first time I ever caught one sitting in their food bowl.

I don't know...maybe Siobhan chose that seat because it fit her big wide hiney perfectly!

I love volunteers...

Do you love volunteers as much as I do? You know the kind I'm talking about...those stray volunteer vegetable and flower seeds that sprout in unexpected places. I never disturb them as I prefer to let them grow where they chose to sprout.

Last year we had sunflowers and grains sprout up around the bird feeders in the front yard and this year I've enjoyed watching the sunflower that sprouted just behind the duck pen (pictured above). I'm not sure how it got there because I don't recall ever feeding the ducks sunflower seed!

Currently the chicken pen is full of some type of grain that's sprouted from their scratch. For the life of me I can't recall what it is, but I'll figure it out before long! The ducks were eating it so I decided to keep them out of the rooster's area. Once I remember what it is I'll let them eat to their little hearts' content.

We also have peas growing around the front porch. I know how they got there. There was a bag of dried peas in the box where the wasp nests were. Don dumped the box out in the yard to make sure he'd gotten all the wasps when I got stung. Now we have a pea patch in our front yard!

At times it seems like I have better luck just throwing seed out, rather than planting it in rows. Hmmm...wonder if that would work with coins? If I toss a few out do you think a money tree would sprout?

RIP Aunt Rosie...

About a year ago I saw an ad on Craigslist of two chickens being given away. One was a rooster, the other an older Rhode Island Red hen. I can't pass up free critters and was needing a rooster after mine lost his head (literally). So I drove to Strayhorn and picked up the two free chickens. The rooster I named Strayhorn and the hen was named Aunt Rosie (I name all my hens "Aunt"...I don't know why, but it just seems right).

Aunt Rosie was already an old girl when I got her, but I was happy to provide her with a comfortable retirement home. She never laid us an egg, but she was a pleasant chicken and got along with the two other hens, Aunt Bernice and Aunt Bertha.

For the past few days Aunt Rosie has not been herself. I knew the end was near when she refused to eat and wouldn't stand up. She just sat in the shade and dozed. We debated on whether or not to end her suffering, but she didn't seem to be suffering and, when Don went out to do the deed, she was standing up and clucking so he left her alone.

Yesterday morning Don found her dead in her little house. She seemed to have passed away in her sleep. I'm sure the hot weather had something to do with her passing, but mostly it was just old age. Now she is buried in the garden. Rest in peace Aunt Rosie.