Birchtree Farm

About a month ago one of our hens was attacked by a hawk. I got out there before too much damage was done, and she spent the last few weeks in a crate in our living room next to the woodstove, living the good life. She healed fine on her own and started regrowing the feathers the hawk had ripped out of her neck. It is notable that the hawk picked the white hen, the only white hen we have. The rest are various shades of brown, grey, black, chestnut, etc. White seems to say "pick me! pick me!" to any predator passing by.

Anyway, on Saturday it was sunny and relatively mild, which is to say it was around 32 degrees, so I took her outside and put her back in with the rest of the chickens. No one really bothered her, except for the roosters of course, in their own "special" way. But she was not being harrassed that I could see. However, Sunday morning when I went to open the coop and feed them, she was up on a roost and her back had been picked completely bare of feathers and was a bit bloody. Apparently someone started in on the broken feathers on her back, and that was all it took. A white chicken shows any little bit of blood so easily and chickens love to pick at anything red. She is now back in the house, in the crate by the woodstove, and seems to enjoy it very much. A house chicken.

Meanwhile, it is snowing AGAIN. We are expected to get another 6-10 inches today. It is granular powder so it is not sticking to anything, including the ice under the snow. I was walking the dogs this morning and even though I knew the ice was there on the driveway, and was being careful, I still ended up flat on my back. It was the perfect slapstick fall in the best traditions of old vaudeville or Dick Van Dyke. It didn't even hurt, although it was quite surprising. I should have made a snow angel while I was down there - it was a perfect opportunity. Maybe next time.