New Friend

On August 13, Parke woke with a start at 3:15 am. We run an air filter at night. I hadn't heard anything, but he said," There is a noise." I said, "What?" He repeated, "There is a noise." Wanting to know what kind of noise, I again asked, "What?" as in what kind of noise. Parke, thinking I wanted him to repeat what he said, again said, "There's a noise." (This would have been funny at the time if I had not been scared due to insufficient knowledge.) I finally almost yelled, "What kind of noise? The cats?" (They all sleep in the basement at night and have been known to cause quite a commotion.) "Someone outside?" I continued. "No, the chickens." Parke said. We have never had a middle of the night incident with the chickens in three years. We have never seen evidence of any nocturnal animals trying to get at the chickens. I raced through the house, turned on the flood lights, and ran down the yard. Parke, in his usual slower pace, came out with a flashlight, cautioning me that there could be some wild animal that could attack me. Oh, yeah, I forgot that option in my haste to protect my girls.

Chickens are blind in the dark. At dusk, they will find their nighttime roosting spots and stay there till daybreak. As I ran toward them, there were four little chickens running around in the playpen area. Something had spooked them so much they risked running in the dark. We could find no animals. But the tarp that hangs down the back of the kennel was disturbed. Something had been there.

I put the four girls back on perches, and we all went back to sleep.

The next two days, we saw a new orange young cat around the chickens. We are assuming that was the cause of the alarm. I have made friends with this new kitty. I feed her on my back porch. She is very affectionate. If I provide food for her, hopefully she will let my chickens alone.

We have not seen Miss Grey for several weeks now. We are fearful that the hawks might have gotten her. Maybe her owner has replaced her with Miss Orange. In the last week or so, Miss Orange has not bothered the chickens. :)

Here is a pic of her coming for a snack.