little messy missy

little messy missy

Friday, October 8, 2010

Cat-and-Mouse With a Chicken...

This morning my husband and I went to breakfast, three different stores for birthday gifts, and then the post office. We left our little house in the pouring rain at 7 am, and we finally dragged ourselves home at 1 pm. As we approached the back door with armfuls of grocery bags, we could hear the dog inside jumping up and down. Not a good sign. As we opened the door he came racing out, running toward the back yard while knocking me over. I got my tired body up and quickly followed him. Two chickens had escaped while we were gone. One was just eating tomatoes in the garden, while the other one was in my neighbors yard!!! I was so tired from all the shopping, but off I raced. I grabbed the Koi fish pond net to help me and I ran into my neighbor's back yard. I am in this neighbor's yard a lot because I help with his fruit tree irrigation, so it wasn't a big deal to run into his yard, but...when the chicken took flight, YES, TOOK FLIGHT, into the next neighbors yard I was stunned. I have NEVER had any of my chickens fly that far before!!! Oh from time to time they will get the "grass is greener" inclinations and hop a six-foot fence and fly down, but not like this. This was flight like an airplane. It was amazing, and for a brief moment I could almost hear angels singing and distant trumpets playing praise as she flew over the barbed-wire fence covered in beautiful ripe purple grapes.

 
After spending about five minutes unsuccessfully knocking on the door of the house that my chicken was now hiding in the back yard of, I gave up and just went into their yard. The hen was hiding in a patch so thick of poky bushes, grapes, and over-grown pine trees, I feared I may never get her out. I would come within five inches of her and she would bolt either right or left. I would then proceed to dislodge the pine tree sap from my hair and remove my now purple jeans from the barbed wire fence to go in at a different angle. We played cat-and-mouse for a good twenty minutes before I started calling for my hubby to come help. By this time my glasses were steamy and I couldn't see, I was dripping wet from grape juice, mud, sap, rain, and chicken poop!!! It took Todd and I another fifteen minutes to catch the damn bird. I am afraid my converse shoes my be purple forever, a haircut may also be needed and I just noticed on the grocery list my husband has added what looks like enough chicken wire request to put a cover on the chicken run...or should I say chicken runway!

15 comments:

Sharon said...

Oh, golly, what a mess! Clip the flight feathers on one of their wings. That should stop that! Bet you are exhausted!

Kristine said...

I've never had one of the large breed chickens do that, but I had a banty rooster named Napoleon do a hawk impersonation when the neighbor 200+ lbs Rottweiler got into our yard. Poor Rott... he went shrieking down the driveway with my little rooster doing a spectacular arial assault. Napoleon strutted around for days after that, clearly impressed with himself.

Jeanne said...

Oh my! The image I have of you and the chicken playing hide and seek!
Glad you were able to catch her & a cover for runway is definitely in order!

jillytacy said...

What an adventure! I've never seen a chicken fly either but have seen wild turkey's fly.
I hope you have a less adventurous weekend!

pchickki said...

Darn Chicken!!
You are too funny. Purple Converse may start a new fad :)

Debra She Who Seeks said...

You know what would make you forget this whole ugly incident? A Happy 101 Award! Good thing there's one waiting for you over at my blog post of Oct 5th!

Chloe m said...

That sounds like a nightmare. My daughter has purple converse shoes, so it can't be a total loss. :)

Two Dog Pond said...

YIKES! better add wing-clipper to the list. That's a clever chicken.

Lyn said...

Nothing like escaped chickens to get the adrenalin going!
What a title.. so well done..too funny!

Mya said...

Were both chickens retrieved in good order? - theirs not yours.
This sounds like an episode from "I Love Lucy," but it does not sound like you were laughing.
I saw your ATC card at Patti's. Dark was the theme and I think you captured it. Very interesting and haunting.

Angela said...

What what! You have to see Chicken Run (the movie)! Too funny. Too bad about your shoes, though.
I just saw the ATC you sent to Patti. Very DARK, very cool.
I'm excited to see all the swappers' cards! I'm sending mine out tomorrow to my swap partner, Leila!
Take care.
Angela

Teal said...

I am sorry, but that was hilarious! I can picture the scene!
Changing the subject. I already sent my ATC out!!!

Callie Brady said...

You poor girl and your poor husband. That hen is lucky you didn't wring it's naughty neck. You would probably do well to clip the flight feathers on both of that hens wings to keep her in the yard. She is lucky she didn't land in a yard with a dog that would be happy to have chicken dinner.

Crazy Amy said...

I sure hope you were able to get a nice hot bath and nap after all that. If that chicken is pet, then no treats, if it's not, then soup!

Unknown said...

I am going to clip wings......funny!

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