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Laura & Curley
Lady Laura, Whippet rescue, at neighbor's chicken pen.
This is Lady Laura, the protector of all things chicken. She first started "hanging out" with my neighbor's chickens last spring (2010). Everyday she would go over to check on her "babies", as they are all known at this point. She would bark at the rooster when he would take care of his hen business. She woud sit and mew, whine and "sing/howl" when the chickens would start clucking before, during and after laying an egg.​
On occasion, when the neighbor's chicken would escape the pen, Lady Laura would instantly go round them up, sometimes cornering them against a fence or building. She has a specific bark when rounding up the chickens, not to loud or agressive, just enough to get the attention from the bird or us. Without touching the bird. On occasion, when she had to, she would, "catch" one behind the neck, push it gently to the ground until it calmed down, and then wait for one of us to retrieve the bird. When it comes to the peeps, she will even pick it up, and bring it to us, nudging us behind the knee to let us know we missed one.
As fate and a good chicken Mom would have it, our neighbor, surprized us late one afternoon. She brought over one of her roosters and 2 hens and "left" them near our garden. My husband and I walked right passed them and didn't even notice, but not Lady Laura! She rounded the pens and started her howling/singing and got our attention. She was already welcoming her new friends, her very own. My husband wasn't to impressed with the "gift". Needless to say, he's on board and refuses to eat another store bought egg. We now have 5 hens and the rooster, named Curly. And yes, I've already made plans for more, but, as my husband says, one day. . .
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Delete Curly & The Girls at Curley's Condo Curly, The Big Man Himself
Link to BYC