- Jun 30, 2009
- 4
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- 7
My peeps (7 hens, 4 Guineas, and Herbert the Turkey) have been cooped up (no pun intended) for the past two weeks because of a sub-zero cold snap and snow. I quit doing my daily head count a few days ago since they weren't going outside. Well, last night I went out to gather the eggs after we got home from work. Something just didn't look right to me, and I quickly realized that my Australorp hen was NOT inside the coop with everybody else. What the heck?! How could she have gotten out?! All I could figure was that she had slipped out the door when I bent down to pick up the eggs and must have scampered around to the other side of the coop before I came out. Anyway, I went back in the house to change out of my work clothes for my parka, gloves and tall boots. I grabbed the flashlight and headed back out into the 25 mph winds we've also been dealing with. Checked the old garage--where the same hen had disappeared into for two days this summer--but nothing. We live on 10 acres, so there are plenty of places she could have crawled into. I checked all the likely spots to no avail, and was getting ready to head into the house when I noticed feathers sticking out from behind the sheets of plywood I'd planned to use for the new coop roof. Oh my goodness!! There she was, and I completely expected her to be frozen solid as she'd been out for at least a full day and night. I gently reached in and she chirped!! Poor thing had snowballs stuck to all her feathers!! I brought her into the house to thaw her out and gave her a dish of pellets and cracked corn. Not even five minutes passed and she was eating as if she hadn't eaten in days. I tucked her into a cat carrier with the food and some water and she got to spend the night in the house. Checked her this morning and she's bright eyed and ready for new adventures! What a stinker!! She really scared me to death. Head counts recommence tonight!!
