You got some 'splainin' to do, Lucy!

AKA Chicken Run**

The chickens escaped!!

We were busy making a divider in the coop for the younger chicks when all hell broke loose! I had my back turned on the larger chicks, that were in the coop at the time, and the door was open just a crack. Well, that’s all it takes for them to decide freedom is just a few steps away.

Now, mind you, chickens are the spookiest critters on God’s green earth and they aren’t the brightest around, either. They hate to be apart from each other and tend to move in a wave of feathers and squawking! Andy was supposed to be running interference while I put the lid on the little chicks’ area but he turned just for a moment to find Rosie. We have to keep a close eye on her for fear of hawks swooping down and carrying her away. Altho with her present weight issues, I doubt there’s a hawk large enough to risk grabbing her chubby little Chihuahua butt! Anyway, I digress.

The chickens saw their opening and like a rushing tide, they were all out in the yard! There were chickens running all over the place. It’s amazing how 8 chickens can look like 28 when they are loose and running! Andy spotted them and quickly started to chase them. I hurried out of the coop and managed to corral the slowest of the group, and before long…although it was like herding cats…I had most of the chicks back where they belong.

However, one little red hen, named Lucy, decided to make a break for it and ran over the wood pile behind the coop shed …a narrow, scary place no man can go…and no woman, either, at least not this woman!… and into the adjoining compost pile. Rosie was barking and zooming around, as fast as her short little legs would carry her, Andy was cussing like the prime old sailor he is, and I started to laugh and was giggling so hard, I almost wet my knickers!

Now, I’m going to take a second to explain something. Our neighbors are crabby. I don’t think they know we have chickens yet (crossing fingers)… they’re the type of neighbors who would turn us in, in a heartbeat, if they knew. Loose, loud chickens are not an option. But I guess I forgot to tell the chickens that. Heck, we don’t even say the “C” word out loud while we’re out in the yard …no, I mean “chickens” …get your mind out of the gutter! … for fear of tipping off the nasty neighbors. The chickens are starting to cluck and that’s a whole lot louder and less wild-bird-like sounding than the peeps and chirps the little ones do when they’re younger. Clucking is much more likely to give away our dirty little secret. I got permission to have chickens from the village clerk, but he said if the neighbors complain, I would have to get rid of them. I don’t even think the offer of fresh eggs, when we start getting them, will help. I can only imagine what the neighbors thought if they heard all that commotion...chickens squawking, mad swearing, yippy barking and gales of hysterical laughing. Oh well, they think we're a bunch of hippy freaks anyway! Probably thought we were having a party!

So anyway, Rosie was barking, I was in major hysterics clutching my knees together to avoid total embarrassment, and Andy was swearing a blue streak and wildly waving a broom around as he climbed up into the compost pile to try to roust out the errant chicken. Lucy finally decided to come out and even in my teary-eyed state of lunacy, I manage to herd her back into the coop.

I heard Andy muttering something like “…damnedfruckingrazafratzachickenfreaks” as I ran into the house to go potty! I wish I’d have had a movie camera, but I would have been laughing too hard to film it anyway!

Here's a picture of our little Lucy! Or as I like to think of her now...Loose-y.





**Speaking of Chicken Run, we just watched that movie yesterday. (Check one thing off my summer list!) It was so cute! Maybe I'll change Lucy's name to Ginger!

Disclaimer: No animals or chickens were hurt during this incident! Altho one old salt was ready to set a little red hen adrift!