- Feb 8, 2010
- 311
- 3
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I had four pullets.
So, the past few days, I've been letting them fart around in the unfinished chicken run while I'm out there working on wiring it the rest of the way shut. Being outside with the sun on their backs and their feet in the grass is much better for their health and well-being than being stuck in the brooder all day, right? And it's no big deal, because I'm out there keeping an eye on things, right? So my son(8) is doing his math(he's homeschooled at the moment) on the table outside, and my daughter(2) is coloring and running around being a nuisance, and the baby is inside the house asleep, and I'm working on finishing the chicken run, and the chickens are in there being chickens. Charming.
Along comes the train. My daughter hates being in the yard when it goes by, so I let her go in the house. The combination of her performing a loud monologue, and the train whistle, wakes up the baby, who begins to scream at the top of her lungs. I throw up my hands and tell my son to go ahead and do his math inside and I follow him in to get a bottle ready. I start hot water running over the frozen milk, see how far along my son is getting with his math, and glance outside to check on the birds.
THERE'S A CAT IN THE RUN. I yell "F#@%ing murderer!" and run outside to scare it away. Two of the birds have somehow squeezed out of the run and are nervously milling around nearby. One bird has become entangled in the unfinished part of the fence and is struggling to get free. The fourth bird has vanished without a trace. The cat is SLAMMING itself against different parts of the fencing with all it's might, having forgotten how it managed to get in. I run over to the bird that is stuck in the fence and set her free. Finally the cat knocks some sense into itself, finds a way out of the run, and escapes.
Two of the birds seem to be completely unharmed, and the one that was caught in the fence has a small cut on her back. I can't find so much as a stray feather from the missing bird, as if the cat swallowed her whole, which doesn't seem probable or possible.
And then there were three.
The worst part is, the whole thing could have been prevented, had I made my son stay outside with the birds for just a minute. I feel awful, and completely irresponsible. The only reason I'm posting it here is so that someone else might learn from my mistake. They will NOT be ok for 2 seconds.
So, the past few days, I've been letting them fart around in the unfinished chicken run while I'm out there working on wiring it the rest of the way shut. Being outside with the sun on their backs and their feet in the grass is much better for their health and well-being than being stuck in the brooder all day, right? And it's no big deal, because I'm out there keeping an eye on things, right? So my son(8) is doing his math(he's homeschooled at the moment) on the table outside, and my daughter(2) is coloring and running around being a nuisance, and the baby is inside the house asleep, and I'm working on finishing the chicken run, and the chickens are in there being chickens. Charming.
Along comes the train. My daughter hates being in the yard when it goes by, so I let her go in the house. The combination of her performing a loud monologue, and the train whistle, wakes up the baby, who begins to scream at the top of her lungs. I throw up my hands and tell my son to go ahead and do his math inside and I follow him in to get a bottle ready. I start hot water running over the frozen milk, see how far along my son is getting with his math, and glance outside to check on the birds.
THERE'S A CAT IN THE RUN. I yell "F#@%ing murderer!" and run outside to scare it away. Two of the birds have somehow squeezed out of the run and are nervously milling around nearby. One bird has become entangled in the unfinished part of the fence and is struggling to get free. The fourth bird has vanished without a trace. The cat is SLAMMING itself against different parts of the fencing with all it's might, having forgotten how it managed to get in. I run over to the bird that is stuck in the fence and set her free. Finally the cat knocks some sense into itself, finds a way out of the run, and escapes.
Two of the birds seem to be completely unharmed, and the one that was caught in the fence has a small cut on her back. I can't find so much as a stray feather from the missing bird, as if the cat swallowed her whole, which doesn't seem probable or possible.
And then there were three.
The worst part is, the whole thing could have been prevented, had I made my son stay outside with the birds for just a minute. I feel awful, and completely irresponsible. The only reason I'm posting it here is so that someone else might learn from my mistake. They will NOT be ok for 2 seconds.
