What Happens When the Chicken Crosses the Road

We had been exclusively free ranging our hens since we moved here but lately we were having a situation. The roosters were leading their ladies astray. Every morning the darn roosters would lead the hens up the road to neighboring farms or across the road to my parents yard. The neighbors were constantly slowing down to avoid running them over.

One fateful morning we woke up to find that a coon had attacked the hens roosting in the tree. Our rooster fought him off but one of our hens were injured. We brought her inside to nurse her back to health. I was feeling quite happy that the rooster had been doing his job when I happened to look out our front window to see one of our hens squished on the road! Quickly, I summoned my oldest to handle the job of cleaning up. And by cleaning up I mean he took the shovel out and scraped the poor hen off the road. I was amazed at how far the poor hens flew once she was hit. They went all the way up and down the road.

The bad news is that we lost a hen. The good news is that they stick to the back yard now.

Moral of the story... always look twice before crossing the road!