Chicken Saga

Monday night after I cleaned out the chicken coop I forgot to properly close the coop door. Tuesday morning Brian went out to wake up the chicks and found one dead chick in the yard and realized that another was missing. I thought the deceased chick was Little Guy and we assumed that Chipmunk had been a nice snack for a cat or raccon. Little Guy was a special chick . . . . she was by far the smallest of the flock and I hand fed her everyday to make sure she got enough food. Needless to say, I was devastated. It was my fault! I spent the morning circling the house looking for the missing chick. After extensive searching through bushes, up trees, and in crevises, I gave up the search. I didn't want to believe Chipmunk was dead and joked that she had "flown the coop" and was out on an extended vacation.

Today I was reading the Georgetown listserve and see a post about one of my neighbors finding an injured chick. Are your freaking kidding me??? Had Chipmunk been found? 6 doors down and across the street??

I emailed my neighbor with the description of Chipmunk he replied, "I'm sorry, the chick doesn't match that description."

Come on now. How many "missing" chicks are out there. Apparently there are at least 2 in Georgetown.

I decided that I couldn't go to sleep unless I checked out the found chick for myself.

Em and I strollled down to the neighbors house, he let us in, and imagine my suprise when Little Guy was in the box staring up at me. "That's Little Guy!" I declared.

My neighbor had bathed LG and dressed her two wounds. He set up a little house with food and water and LG had all the comforts of home. My neighbor remarked that he knew this was a loved chick because she was so "darned friendly."

I brought LG home and put her in the coop with her friends. After a quick look around and a snack, LG cuddled up with her flock and went to sleep.

Happy endings do happen.

I now need to revise my chicken obituary. . . .

RIP Chipmunk. You were loved!