Miss Polly comes a visiting!

Over the last year I've been increasing the size of our chicken flock.  We now have 12 laying hens & of course our rooster "Handsome".  My chickens are one of my favourite pets -they are so easy to care for & love following me around and of course they have the added bonus of  producing the most delicious & nutritious eggs imaginable (as only truely free ranged hens can!). But of all the different hens my favourite would have to be Miss Polly.

Miss Polly  loves to be around us wherever we are in the yard.  The other day as I weeded our 12 m side garden, Miss Polly followed me the whole way around pecking contentedly by my side as I worked.  She loves to jump up on the windowsill & look into the house & would rather be around people than the rest of the flock.  

Well last Thursday morning we were in quite a rush.  Thursdays is our day off school & instead we travel varying distances to different activities with other home scholars - last week was dance class 45 minutes away.  We were gone for most of the day as after dance we have lunch & then a play/social time with the other families, so it was about 4pm by the time we arrived home.  Upon opening the door I stumbled across a mess on the floor - I said to the kids that one of the cats must have been left inside - but thought it strange that they chose the middle of the kitchen floor to do their thing  - I also thought it didn't look or smell like cat faeces, but anyway.  I grabbed the kitchen spray & paper towel & promptly disposed of the mess -not thinking much of it.  

Suddenly Zai called from down the hall that there was mess down there too.  As well looked closer we found a trail of mess down the hall & in the bathroom (thankfully we haven't put down the planned carpet in the hall - sometimes ugly tiles are very handy).  After looking closely we concluded that a chicken must have come inside - but how?  After a huge clean up job we headed out to put away our shoes near the back door - sure enough the back door was ajar - in fact it was wide open & we can only conclude that it was so all day (thankfully we live in the country where you can leave anything unlocked without worrying too much) so that explained how the intruder got in (although why she chose to walk to the other end of the house & back - who knew??)    It wasn't until we'd all had afternoon tea & the kids were sitting down to watch a DVD in the lounge that we spied a little brown feathered bottom poking out beside one of the lounges (I always think it's funny that chickens think they're hidden when their head is hidden).  Well I grabbed my camera to try & get that picture, but  by the time I got back she had realised her hiding spot was discovered  - sure enough it was Miss Polly & she led us on a merry chase through the dining room & down the hall (with me madly clicking the camera while chasing followed by all 4 children yelling at the top of their lungs). 

 It wasn't until she headed into Dave's & my bedroom that I began to worry - I mean to clean tiles is one thing, but a chook in your bed is quite another.  Thankfully I managed to catch up with her as she launched herself onto the windowsill & put her outside. The children have certainly had fun relaying the story to various listeners - the day Miss Polly came to visit & made quite a mess!!

Oh & HAPPY SPRING to all my Southern Hemisphere friends - isn't it just the best time of year!!

Have a lovely day