White Hen Comes Home

We were sure White Hen was dead, so I was more than surprised when I saw her under the bird feeder  this afternoon, pecking at the fallen seeds as if she hadn’t been gone for five days.

At first I thought she was Kitty or Anne.  I never expected to see White Hen again.  I can’t imagine where she’s been all these days and nights.

I never saw any sign of her, no foot prints no droppings, not a feather.

I wanted to make sure she got into the coop tonight, to be sure she remembered where and what it was now that she was back.

She was easy to catch, and made no fuss when I held  her, then eagerly hopped from my arm into the coop.

At first the three hens seemed fine, but after a minute or so, Kitty Anne started pecking at White Hen.

White Hen made her way to the roosting box, but Kitty Anne followed her and just kept pecking at her.  Then White Hen came out of the box and jumped up onto the roosting bar at the top of the chicken coop.

I haven’t seen her do that since she was a chick.  She was clearly trying to get away from the other hens.

That made me wonder if they just didn’t recognize her after all these days or if they had chased her away to begin with.

White Hen is very old and if she is sick or dying the other hens wouldn’t hesitate to chase her away, or help her along.

When I told Jon that White Hen was back and how the other hens were pecking at her, we decided it was best to put White Hen in the barn for a while.  I imagine she must hungry and thirsty and could use some time to recuperate from her days away in this cold weather.

I used some hay bale to block off one of the stalls in the barn.   I gave her some bedding, water and food. There’s even a place a place for her to roost up high on the old wooden feeder, if she choses too.

When I left she was eating and seemed quite content.