True stories of a small flock of remarkable individuals -- and other critters.



Sunday, January 5, 2014

JAILBIRDS

Continued from the previous post, " TORTURE". 

Those Pinless Peepers worked.   

They stopped Lil'White from pecking at Lucy, but still allowed enough range of vision for her to shoot me a spiteful glare.   

But I could tell that the Peepers were uncomfortable, and I felt like a real heel for doing this to her.

I gave her about two months - hoping that would be enough time for her feather-picking habit to become a distant memory -- or no memory at all. 

The day I removed the Pinless Peepers, Lil'White took a few steps back and gave me the full-frontal stink-eye. 

Then she shook her plumage indignantly, 
sauntered over to Lucy,  
and promptly resumed her bad habit.  

Sorry, Lil'White. That was your last chance.  

I scooped her up and took her to the mobile coop where the young Nuggets had grown up.  

I placed her inside and locked the door. 

And because Lil'White has no friends, and needs no friends, she settled cheerfully into her cozy private home. 

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

Meanwhile, back at the big coop, all hell was breaking loose. 
I had moved the Nuggets in with the old ladies, expecting them to sort out a pecking order and settle down as a flock.  

But the integration process had gone horribly awry. 

Daisy plotted to make all of their lives miserable. 
She stalked the nuggets from morning to night.
And when she caught them, feathers flew.

Her attacks were relentless. The screams and yelps of her victims were disconcerting.  I hoped that things would mellow out with time, but Daisy just didn't lighten up. 

Then one sunny day, 
as I spent long hours assembling this simple Ikea product on the back deck, 

I noted from across the yard that the flock was unusually calm and quiet.  There was no squawking, no running....  There were no feathers flying.  

Finally, I thought, they've reached an accord.  

That afternoon when I visited the gals, nobody came to greet me. 

Something was wrong, but didn't figure it out until Dorrie turned to look at me.  

Her face was caked with blood.  







20 comments:

  1. Wha???! No cliffhangers!
    It's bad enough we've waited all these months for Downton Abbey, now this???! I need my next installment, soon please.

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  2. I agree with Natalie! Please don't make us wait as long as we've had to wait for Downton Abbey to return! :)

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  3. Okay...i have been following you long enough to know you are a very nice person and probably didn't mean to be cruel with this cliffhanger...Thank heavens i can deduce from your FB posts that they have all survived!!
    :^)

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  4. OMG!!!! Please don't let it be serious.... :(

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  5. On the edge of my seat here in northern Virginia....

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  6. AAWWW, if this was the result of the trouble maker, separate her too, eh???

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  7. Dang! Chickens can be downright mean!

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  8. Sounds like Li'l White is going to get a cellmate ...

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  9. You're too funny!! Now this would be a reality show worth watching!

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  10. Aaaaaack! I won't sleep tonight!

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  11. I'm an instant gratification kinda girl…I'm dyin' here!

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  12. I can't believe you've left us with a cliffhanger! I hate cliffhangers! Please don't make us wait long to find out what's happened.

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  13. Oh no! It's been so long waiting for this part. You must let us know!

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  14. I agree, we have waited for the next part and now must wait again. Not too long please, we must know what happens next.

    I can't believe that after two months Little White still resumed her bad behaviour.

    I struggled with integrations in the spring but no blood, that is scary. I do hope the outcome is a happy one in the end.

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  15. Oh DID they?
    That's a sort of accord, now isn't it?

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  16. Nooooo! Who turned all Steven Segal?

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  17. Ahhhh, oh no!!! I guess it's like kids - when they are being too quiet you know something's up. I can't wait to hear what happened after this. I hope everyone is ok!

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