Hen House Story

This summer had been a summer of fighting broody hens.
Hens that just wanted to give up and die. Hens that molt
two feathers a week so there are feathers all of the time.
I did find out what works for broody hens. I took my two hens
that I just couldn't break and I put them in the coop with the
bantams for 3 days and they never sat again. It must be as long
as a chicken can remember. I would find them standing staring at the
nest boxes but always with a lost expression on their faces.


Now to my story. On Sunday night, I was a bit late getting my eggs.
The sun was still up a bit so it wasn't dark. The sun in fact was shining
straight into my coop where my nest boxes are I had really cleaned my coop
on Saturday so I knew it would be so nice to open the door and look inside.


I opened the door and this big thing went running away from the nest boxes to the
the place where the perches are located. I stood there watching thinking," Wow,
that is a big mouse, that is a very big mouse, You know that is the biggest mouse
I have ever seen before." Then it dawned on me that isn't a mouse, that is a RAT!!!

He must have been able to read minds because as soon as I thought the word RAT the
evil thing turned and looked at me standing like a idiot in the doorway. He started running
straight at me full speed. I was frozen in place. I was standing in the doorway, my thought was, " No, that rat will stop, that rat
will not try and run up my leg," Then it became perfectly clear, that rat was going to climb up
my leg!! My next thought was, " "That rat is going to climb up to my shorts!!!"


I screamed of course, soon as his little hands started up my leg. As soon as I screamed Sasha was at the other side of my leg. The rat saw her
and ran back in the hen house. Sasha took off after it so I shut the door, praying that Sasha
would catch him. Dust was coming at the door and squeaks lots of squeaks. I opened the door
very slowly and Sasha was staring up at the ceiling. There braced against the wall and the ceiling
was the rat. I went and got a stick to knock him down but when I got back he
was going into a place in the roof I couldn't get too. Sasha has never killed anything
in her life she isn't that kind of dog. She will herd things but she has never killed.
My Sheltie was the varmint killer. I wished I had her back just because she would have
made short work of it.
I have never seen a rat the whole time I have lived here. Mice but never a rat.
Now I have to find him before he moves the whole family in for the winter.
Now going out to the chicken coop is one I do ever so slowly. I am still a bit afraid.
I let Sasha go first.

My husband was working in his trees. Later I asked him, " Did you hear screams
coming from the chicken house?" He looked at me sideways, and said, " I did
hear lots of noise but I thought it was far off." Then I told him. He just laughed.


I hope you have a great Thursday. I just thought you might enjoy my rat story.

~Kim~