Following Edge

We're not really collecting chickens. Honestly. But, perhaps the disappointing results from getting only 4 chicks from incubating almost 40 eggs this season adds to our natural desire to help out a chicken in need.

On our way to Saturday Market this Saturday, we stopped by PetSmart to pick up some medicine for Snickers (the horse) who injured her eye somehow. As we were leaving, Anne Marie spotted a sign reading "Found: Big RED Hen. Needs good home". We called the number on the sign and soon wound up at a little condo apartment with a lady, her grown daughter, a huge dog, and Hazel the hen. It turns out that they found the hen on the grounds at their church and have been keeping it inside their little condominium for five weeks. The constant effort to clean up after Hazel (or to prevent the dog from cleaning up after Hazel) made them thrilled to know that we could take Hazel to the country and offer her a good home.

Now, after spending over a month sitting on the couch cuddling with Audubon Society members in a suburban condo watching daytime TV, one could wonder if she will think of her new home in the country as a really "good" home. On the other hand, they were feeding her bird seed, so she'll probably be happy to have some proper food and the company of chickens again.

Hazel is a BIG chicken. As close as I can guess, she is probably a New Hampshire Red, though she seems big even for that breed. Her size could be a problem for the "pecking order" in our chicken coop, but she both has a docile nature and appears to have had a badly-set broken wing, so when the "pecking" began, she put up a good show, but evidently came out on the bottom as she's been laying low in the coop all day today.