We lost a hen yesterday -- but Abby tried to save it!
Happened while Mum and I were in Moncton (yes, shopping -- but not buying).
When we arrived home at 4:30, I said, "I'd better take Abby for a walk."
Dwayne said, "Oh, she doesn't need one. Abby, tell your mother what you did."
Dwayne said he was on the front deck and knew Abby was around back. When he went to find her, though, she was gone. 'One-armed Willis' jumped on the four-wheeler and went back the road to search for her. Finally, she responded to his calling by rushing out of the woods at the top of the field.
Since I needed a walk, we went anyway and on our way back, I decided to cut through the field instead of going back down the lane. That's when I spied feathers sticking to the dried grass.
I knew them immediately: They were Blondie's feathers.
Blondie was one of our two Americauna hens who lay green-shelled eggs. Both Blondie and Annie (she's orange, named for Anne of Green Gables) are excellent layers. They also are hens who fly out of the pen to wander around the yard. Abby runs after the chickens but I can't tell if she's chasing or herding. She stops as soon as I tell her to but she's quick and I worry she'll hurt the chicken by making it run too fast.
When I found the feathers in the field, I looked at Abby and said, "Did you kill a chicken? Did you?"
She did not answer but she looked upset. Guilty?
I showed Dwayne the feathers as soon as I got back to the house.
"Fox," he said.
"But maybe Abby -- "
"Nope. That's why she disappeared. She was chasing the fox."
She was trying to save one of her chickens.

The last of Blondie's feathers and the last egg she laid.