She Never Saw it Coming

Saturday morning Tricia, Russ, and I were up at the working on a project with some other members of the church family.  We were enjoying ourselves, and it was nice, once again, to get out and be social.  Russ received a telephone call from Benjamin, who was at home.  I only heard one half of the conversation, but it didn't sound good.  Russ said, as he closed the call, "Okay, I'll tell 'em."

He hung up and told us that Benjamin went outside to check on the cows as they were mowing the grass in the front yard and saw an act of violence taking place in the pasture and that we needed to get home quick.  When we arrived, we found that the perpetrator was under house arrest.  The suspect was Belle.  She is being held in the garage on a cable tie-out until her arraignment.  She crawled under the car in embarrassment for her crime and is looking mighty guilty, if you ask me. 

After taking a statement from Benjamin, who witnessed the entire episode, he stated that he walked out to see Belle catching a Barred Rock hen in the pasture and tossing it into the air.  When Benjamin ran out to the pasture, the hen was in Belle's mouth and was barely alive.  We put her temporarily in a wagon full of hay, hoping she will be able to heal from this ordeal, but the prognosis wasn't good.

In looking over the hen closely, she was certainly traumatized.  She was bleeding from the leg and was shaking and unsteady on her feet.  I really don't know if she'll make it.  After looking closer, I noticed that she was our hen with only one eye.  We found, and reported on, "Old Cyclops" many years ago in THIS POST FROM MAY 2016..  Old Cyclops never saw it coming.  Belle probably came up on her on her blind spot.

Belle, while she is a livestock guardian dog, is just a puppy.  She likes to play with the chickens and goats and cows.  She didn't intend to kill the hen - she just played too rough.  We'll have to be more careful and not leave her unattended with the chickens until she grows up.

Old Cyclops

I regret to inform you that Old Cyclops passed away.  She'll now be composted and have the opportunity to grow some nice vegetables for us in the garden.  As far as Belle, she is on parole now and will have to visit with her probation officer frequently.  We think we can rehabilitate her.  She needs to learn that she must guard the chickens and protect them from danger - not kill them!