Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Harrowing Rescue of Miss Fluffybutt



So typically we don't name our birds out here on our little homestead. The ducks are ducks, the turkeys are turkeys or when they're not causing headaches - turkey lurkeys, etc. We do have a few hens though that for some reason or another have done something to earn a name.

This hen is one of the hens that's got a name. She's the last of the Miss Fluffybutts. The Fluffybutts are the name that Carla gave the Red Sex-Link hens since thier butts are well, fluffy like a pillow. This Miss Fluffybutt has a crooked toe on her right foot, so when we refer to her, it's always as Miss Crooked-Toe Fluffy Butt. These hens are incredibly docile, and have had the highest attrition rate of our birds on pasture. In fact, at the start of the week, there were two Mrs Fluffybutts, but then we got rid of our troublesome guard dog, Roux. That very night, the second Mrs Fluffybutt became a late night snack to this rascal.


Yeah, turns out that he likes chicken but he wasn't too keen on my 12 gauge. So knowing the problems this guy was causing (this is before I caught him), I went down after night fall to the pasture to check on hens. I had a headlamp on and was half way to the chicken coop in the middle of the field when I heard a loud, frantic Bock Bock Bock Bock behind me. I wheeled around and the last Miss Fluffybutt shot out from some bushes and in a clucking frenzy ran right to where I had stopped and cuddled up on my boot. I picked up a very grateful hen and placed her in the coop with the rest of the flocks - the coon was denied an easy snack and chose to dine in my trap instead. Miss Crooked Toe Fluffybutt lives to lay another day.

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