Well... the threesome is now a twosome. Yesterday, sweet Miss Mabel ended up on the wrong side of the fence. An overly bold groundhog has been making daily visits to the chicken yard. At first everyone seemed to coexist, but this past week we noticed a change. The hens have been getting quite agitated by his presence, as the groundhog roams farther and stays longer. Usually, the girls either fly to the top of the coop and raise a commotion, or race to a corner of their "yard", protesting all the way with frantic clucking and flapping of wings. When I heard the telltale ruckus yesterday, I ran around the corner of the house, expecting to see the three chickens in their usual corner, loudly complaining. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Sadie and Olive were sounding the alarm, however, Mabel had flown over the fence and into the danger zone. The danger zone, meaning the No Trespassing Zone... The Louie Zone... where violation is punishable by death. Not good. Lou, the siberian husky/german shepherd who fancies himself a hunter, beat me to the scene. He did back off at my command, but Mabel was already flopping around on the ground and obviously injured. She didn't appear to have any wounds, however her legs were limp and she couldn't stand or balance. Poor thing! I wrapped her up in my flannel shirt and brought her in the house to keep her warm and quiet...
... and by the next morning
... there were only two.
