The Great Chicken Caper

 Well, the bantam hens and peeps have a new home now. The folks who asked to have them arrived just after evening chores were done one evening last week. They brought with them a pet carrier for taking the hens home with them. Easter did NOT think this a good idea, and prompty flew up as high as she could get in the barn rafters. We caught the mama hen, Pearl, then Starlight, and then one by one, the little peeps. Boy, they got FAST !  Finally it was time to catch Easter- I herded her back into their stall and she made a beeline for one of the empty water buckets. 'New chicken owner' caught her easily. We held the door for the pet carrier and put her gently inside. Then it was time to transfer the peeps from the storage container to the carrier. This to was done as gently as possible so no one got hysterical or TOO frightened. Mama Pearl sure was happy to have her family back and by the time the new chicken owners left, the three hens and peeps had straightened out their ruffled feathers and were being quiet. :)

The next weekend, the little gal who now owns the hens,etc told me that they had gotten two eggs and that the hens and peeps were doing great.

Happy ending to this story. Now to make friends with the New Golden Girls, and to move them into the flock .....

 The horses are so used to chickens by now, that when they are in the aisle for tacking up or grooming, they pay no attention to the poultry. One evening this week, Lucky ( the one chick that survived the Great Chicken Murder a few weeks ago) was now practicing crowing- yes HE is a rooster to be. He has discovered that going into his little 'house' each evening is not what He sees as good- so it's a circus trying to corral him in the correct direction. This one particular evening, there were two of the boarders grooming their horses in the aisleway. I'd herded Lucky Almost towards his house, when he stopped. Looking up at the rather round red Hafflinger above him, he flew up High and landed on the pony's BACK! The pony was surprised as could be but handled it all great. He wriggled his skin on his shoulders and back, and Lucky flew down again. That was when he went into his night time house. Whew.....  We all were laughing at the surprised pony AND that young rooster sitting on his back.

Lucky's picture is below....