- Apr 22, 2011
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The worst happened this morning: a raccoon attack while my 9 week old pullets were out free ranging. I was there and intervened, so the raccoon didn't kill Esme (the attacked pullet), but he maimed her eye. I got the other girls back inside (they still sleep in a brooder at night) and rushed Esme to the vet. Once we got home, rather than put her in the brooder (aka: the giant box) where the other chickens might peck at the wounds, I put Esme into a small box (quarantine) next to the giant one. The girls were very curious about Esme. When I came back later to check on her (she was asleep from the painkiller the vet administered), the girls were sitting on top of the giant box, where they could look down and watch her. I came back later to check again, and one of her "sisters" had jumped down into the small box and was lying next to the still sleeping Esme. The way her "sister" was cooing, I could tell she had no intention of pecking Esme, just providing comfort. She has since gone back to sitting on top of the giant box, and she and the others are watching over Esme as I write this. I had no idea chickens could be so sweet!