Chicken Trauma (bit like chicken korma but not as tasty)

Poor chucks had a bit of a trauma this morning and this is the result . . . . yes, those are feathers all over the ground!  Poor Peggy got got by a dog, but amongst a commotion of squawking and feathers managed to get away and Bob found her and Bonny the other side of the path in the undergrowth  . . . Elvis was nowhere to be seen.  The poor lady walking the dog was very apologetic - it is a young rescue dog and has a lot to learn.  She was helping to look for Elvis, but we thought with the dog there she was unlikely to come out of hiding so the lady and dog went on their way - just as Elvis sauntered down the steps!  So at least she knew they were all OK. 



Peggy with her new fancy hairdo!

 Peggy now has quite a bald patch on her back, but I can't quite believe that so many feathers came out of that one patch.  The skin wasn't broken and she seems fine now if a little embarassed of her new hairdo.  Straight after she went to hide behind the wheely bin (which to our chickens is just about the safest place in the world - even Harley Davidsons can't get you there), so we left her to calm down a bit.  About 10 mins later Bob heard a chicken talking behind the bin and thought she might be coming out, but when he looked little Elvis was there having a motherly chat with her and telling her everything would be alright and then she brought her out - how sweet is that?

Other feathered news is that the baby wrens think I'm their mother - so cute!  I peeped into the barn and saw that the adult wasn't there so crept in for a closer look, I could just see the top of their heads, but when I got closer they all poked their heads up and opened their mouths hopefully.  They didn't do that when Bob went to look  . . . . must be the beard!

Don't know if you can make this out or not, but there are three bright yellow beaks.
Their beaks are about twice the size of the chicks themselves - I don't
know how they fitted them into those tiny eggs  . . . . perhaps they have
folding beaks?