Yesterday there was an awful ruckus in the side yard. One of our hens was repeatedly making what we call the egg laying sound. It goes something like tee-wok tock tock tock tock and sometimes is used to notify the world of a new egg. I’ve also heard it used when the chooks are afraid, like when a magpie is roosting nearby or the neighbour’s cat is walking along the top of the fence (they hate birds, cats and pretty much anything that isn’t stationary and/or edible). So when the noisy chicken didn’t shut up, I looked out to see what was going on.
It turns out there was a real danger lurking in the shrubbery – aluminium foil.
Rosie kept up her loud squawk while stepping slowly yet deliberately towards that shiny thing in the bushes. I thought it was the neighbour’s cat (shiny foil and white patches look a lot alike from a distance) so I went out to shoo the beast away. When I realised it was a bit of foil that, no doubt, fell from my neighbour’s barbecue which is just above these plants, I quickly reached in and grabbed it. Another chicken-eating piece of rubbish captured before it could wipe out my flock – the world is a little safer thanks to my heroics (at least in the eyes of my chooks).
Rosie immediately calmed down and the other 2 chickens (I use that term in both a literal and figurative sense) came out from their safe lookout in the doorway to under the house.
I don’t know if Rosie is the protector of the flock, I had been thinking Bronwyn was the one most often on guard duty and raising the alarm, but this time Rosie showed her courage in the face of danger (and Bronwyn her qualifications for a supervisory role).
Rosie the Brave
Laura Rittenhouse's Gardening Journal 
Looks like the predator was ‘foiled’ again. 🙂 Funny story. Animals do keep us entertained.
My brother warned me that keeping any living thing sucks you in and you get attached whether you want to or not (and I wanted to so I was doubly doomed). I thought I’d get attached but I never expected the entertainment value of the little creatures.
Your chooks seem very aware of anything going on in the garden. Great guard-chooks! They look so healthy and happy.
Great alarm-chooks at least. I’m not sure how much value to place in their ability to scare off axe murderers (or kitchen paper).
They are healthy and very happy. I know they’re healthy because they each lay an extra large egg with a strong shell every day and I know they’re happy because they grumble whenever they aren’t (my chooks do not suffer in silence). Thankfully they rarely grumble.
Loving Rose the Brave 🙂
She’s impossible not to love. So much personality burried under all those feathers.
I can tell 😉