Chicken for Supper

A little over a week ago, while I was eating supper with the kids, a couple stray dogs ended up at our place. Our dog was chained up, and these two were all over her. I couldn't tell if they were being friendly or not, but when they started biting our dog's neck I decided it was time to scare them off.

Since I was holding Isaac I just decided to yell at them through the window. As soon as they heard me they left Sophie alone. It didn't take long for them to turn their attention elsewhere though. One of them caught eye of our red star hen, "Henny Penny", and before I knew it one of the dogs was running across the yard with Henny Penny in its mouth.

Feathers were strewn across the yard, Hannah was in hysterics at the table, and I thought Henny Penny was done for.

I yelled out the window again at the dogs and surprisingly the thief dropped its supper. Even more surprisingly, Henny Penny got up and ran away! She wasn't safe yet though, because the dog that had her turned and started chasing her again.

This time I put Isaac down and went outside. Our wood pile is just in front of our house so I grabbed a weapon and went after the dogs. They didn't seem to mind too much, but Henny Penny - who was wheezing - was able to buy some time and find a hiding spot. The dogs just went and hid under some of our wagons.

I would have liked to stick around to get them off of our property, but I had to be in town to help with our AWANA program. I put Sophie in her kennel and figured the chickens wouldn't be coming out of hiding any time soon. Thankfully, when I got home they were all safe.

These dogs have been back a few times since, and the hens now hide. We are hoping to have our perimeter electric fence up soon, and hopefully that will help with some of the strays.