Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ribh]

There you go. Long distance mind reading again. I even knew I would get a dig.

Well, you know how to stop the digs...

 

[featherhead007]

Top hens ime rarely do the enforcing. It's usually the second in command. You may not stay top hen if you've been injured in a fight. Better to let the subordinates get injured. Seems to have worked out well for the top in all the human wars I've read about.

I have never seen a chicken carrying a machine gun. just saying

 

[RoyalChick]

Sunset over The Chicken Palace

 

[Shadrach]

I have never seen a chicken carrying a machine gun. just saying

Now there's an interesting point. I can't think of a much more pathetic and defenseless creature than a naked unarmed human. We must have been the ultimate prey animal at some point. According to the viruses I've talked to we still are.

 

[BY Bob]

HAWK!!!!!!

I promise to read everyone's posts but I just thwarted a hawk attack!

I was sitting in the yard, reading and hanging with the ladies. When to my back on the other side of the pool some dogs took off and scattered. The girls gave a pseudo alarm, pause for a moment and then went back to grooming and scratching.

After a new moments I noticed that it was completely silent. The song birds were gone. The squirrels were gone. Just too quite. I was uneasy. (In fact, as I type this, it has happened again. It is quiet right now. No animal sounds.)

Well that made me look up from the book. As I did I caught a glimpse of something in the peripheral vision of my right eye, above me. Lord bless me, I don't know why but my reaction was to stand up. I think my movement caused the hawk to alter course and get tangled in the trumpet vine above Sydney. It screeched as it got caught and then I moved towards it. Before I could get two steps, it was untangled and gone.

This is the view from where I was sitting.

Lets step back and look at the geometry of everything.

This whole party of the year has excellent aerial coverage. The magnolia tree and trumpet vine meet so there is no path through (purple arrow). There is a small gap of no more than 2 feet between the clothes line and the trumpet vine. I think the hawk was shooting for that gap.

I don't think that Sydney was the target as she was actually right up against the fence. I think the target was Sansa!

Usually after a thwarted attempt the hawk returns. So I armed myself.

In this instance, unless it happens now, there has been no return visit. Everyone is quite fine grazing in the yard as my pulse slowly comes back to normal. That was definitely a close one.

That trumpet vine was the location of a lot of playing song birds today. I am guessing that may have first attacked the hawk.

 

[BY Bob]

Muscle strain, which would seem favorite from the fight, can take a few weeks to heal up properly.

There has been a lot of this from all the of them since the brawl. Less from Hattie than these two.

 

[BY Bob]

That gives me a good goal to work towards. I am going to try to win the epic rodent war before the end of the week!!

I like an aggressive goal!

 

[BY Bob]

That sounds like the flock has dealt with Aurora. Wonder why Hattie was the designated enforcer?

I don't know who started it. In the end Hattie won. Now did Hattie instigate ghe fight because she had enough of Aurora or did Aurora pick on the wrong hen, I do not know. Hattie is the only hen bigger than Aurora.

Hattie is also definitely moving around better today than either Lilly or Aurora whatever that means.

 

[Ribh]

I don't know who started it. In the end Hattie won. Now did Hattie instigate ghe fight because she had enough of Aurora or did Aurora pick on the wrong hen, I do not know. Hattie is the only hen bigger than Aurora.

Hattie is also definitely moving around better today than either Lilly or Aurora whatever that means.

Love me some Hattie!

 

[Ribh]

I've just noticed they sell the hardback version. It's only a few quid more at £19.something. Well worth the extra imo. It's a book you'll go back to again and again.

They won't ship to Oz. I'll try elsewhere.