Possum in the Hen House
The poor hennie pennies are all clustered together for support this chill autumn morning because a possum got into the hen house last night. We spent the day in south east Oklahoma, and we didn't get back until 10pm or so, well after dark. I went to close the door on the hen house and noticed that one of our roosters was still out in the pen. Something was clearly wrong, so I went back into the house for a flashlight. Harriette and Roy were both out in the pen, shivering with cold, looking very unhappy, so I proceeded to search the hen house for any problem. I opened the door... nothing seemed amiss. The rest of the chickens were on their roosts asleep. But Roy and Harriette sometimes sleep on the nests, so I opened up the nest hatch just to check (remembering the horrors of the chicken mites). And, lo and behold, there was a little possum hunkered down in one of the nest boxes. The possum froze under my light, pretending to be dead.
Kate came out and we both had a good laugh (if I'd been thinking clearly, I would have grabbed a camera so you could share in the little guy's discomfiture), but the problem remained as to how to get him out without getting bitten. Eventually I went in to get my gauntlets and vambraces, put them on, grabbed the possum (who was still playing dead) and put him down away from the hen house. He didn't even try to bite me. Eventually he scuttled away and climbed a tree. I rather doubt he'll try to get into the hen house again after having been caught red-handed, as it were, the first time he got in.
Unfortunately, by the time we'd gotten the possum out, Fred, the guinea, and Ohura, the black banty, had awakened and joined Roy and Harriette out in the pen. Chickens can't see in the dark, and they all knew there was a fanged monster in the hen house, so they were hardly inclined to go back in. Kate ended up entering the pen (which is covered with deer netting very low to the ground) and proceeded to try to wrangle the chickens. Fifteen minutes (and a sore back) later, the hens and roosters were all back in the house.
This morning, they aren't coming out of the house, and everyone looks a little traumatized.
Ah, the dramas of chicken world.
Kate came out and we both had a good laugh (if I'd been thinking clearly, I would have grabbed a camera so you could share in the little guy's discomfiture), but the problem remained as to how to get him out without getting bitten. Eventually I went in to get my gauntlets and vambraces, put them on, grabbed the possum (who was still playing dead) and put him down away from the hen house. He didn't even try to bite me. Eventually he scuttled away and climbed a tree. I rather doubt he'll try to get into the hen house again after having been caught red-handed, as it were, the first time he got in.
Unfortunately, by the time we'd gotten the possum out, Fred, the guinea, and Ohura, the black banty, had awakened and joined Roy and Harriette out in the pen. Chickens can't see in the dark, and they all knew there was a fanged monster in the hen house, so they were hardly inclined to go back in. Kate ended up entering the pen (which is covered with deer netting very low to the ground) and proceeded to try to wrangle the chickens. Fifteen minutes (and a sore back) later, the hens and roosters were all back in the house.
This morning, they aren't coming out of the house, and everyone looks a little traumatized.
Ah, the dramas of chicken world.