A Surprise in the Chicken Pen

A Surprise in the Chicken Pen

Today I went back out to check on all the animals as it is 101 degrees F. here in Alabama. I was headed to the faucet, so I could give the animals’ fresh cool water. Then something caught my eye towards the chicken pen. I was surprised by what I found inside the temporary cage my four chickens were in. One of the chickens looked strange, so I headed

over to see what was going on. Low and behold, there was an owl in the cage with the chickens. It was huge. With its outstretched wings, scraping the sides of the cage, it looked even bigger. I slowly walked towards the cage, wondering if my chickens were hurt. There were feathers everywhere. Lying in the bottom of the cage was the body of my black hen. It had been half eaten.

I turned to run towards the house to get my daughter to come help, I then proceeded to grab the water hose. I drenched both the owl and three remaining chickens. The owl just sat inside the water dish and let the water run over it.

The chickens were in a temporary dog kennel cage until we could build our new chicken coop. The kennel was place under the Dogwood tree in the side yard to help keep them cool. Apparently, the moving of the kennel caused the sides to come loose leaving a gap at the top. This had to be how the owl got into the kennel with the chickens.

After a few minutes, of me trying to figure out how I am gonna get my chickens out of the cage without being attacked by the owl, my oldest daughter drives up. She notices the new chicken in the cage and asks me “What are you doing with that?” I had no idea. That is when she offered to help me get the chickens out of the cage. After just a few minutes, all three chickens were safely removed to another cage. Then she reached in a grabbed the Owl with a chicken net and pulled it out. After placing the owl in cage for traveling, we

drove the Owl in the back of the truck to the Rescue Department. Two Rescue members came out to see who needed rescuing. They were surprised to find a huge Owl in a parakeet cage. They called the game warden and the wild life preserve to come to get the poor thing. After getting home and doing some research, I discovered the Owl caught in our chicken pen was a Great Horned Owl.

The Great Horned Owl is one of the largest species of Owls in Alabama. They normally stand around 18 to 25 inches in height and a 60 inch wingspan. It is nocturnal bird. Great horned owls are called such because of the large, erect ear tufts set very far apart on their head. They have huge yellow eyes.

I hated the fact that I lost a chicken, but I am happy to know that someone will be treating it for dehydration and will be setting it free back into the wild.