Alien Abduction Bob

All the chickens, you may recall, are named Bob. They have 'subcategory names,' (Kung Fu Bob, Bob Alfredo...) And through the summer, we had 24 hens.

This autumn, the numbers decreased. Starting with the chicken that threw herself under the wheels of the golf cart. That was a bad scene. Loud lamentation, and a 21 gun salute at the funeral followed.

Then, about two weeks ago, one chicken simply failed to turn up at roosting time. Nancy combed the usual places, without success. Sometimes when this happens, the errant bird is waiting at the stable come morning, but sometimes it ends in tears -- or in the talons of a passing hawk, the teeth of a roving fox... and all we find is a feather or two. This go-round, we didn't even find that. Just an absence of chicken. So there were 22...

Then, during the last week of hunt season, one of the hunting dogs that seem to run wild in the bush at this time of year grabbed a chicken in the yard, shook it, and ran on. The bird died of shock. The only up-side was that the dog's owner was talking to us at the time... and was suitably upset.

So, for the past week, it's been 21 chickens. With winter coming on, they are moving into their new winter roost -- chickens aren't fans of the snow. Last night, Nancy carefully relocated all 21 birds into the new, warmer roost, and shut the door. She finished feeding the horses, and was sweeping up the aisle, when she turned around and found a chicken in the middle of the aisle. "How did you get out?" she asked, scooping up the bird, and taking her to the new roost. Where 21 chickens sat looking back at them.

So, we are back up to 22 birds. One has been simply missing for almost two weeks. Chickens don't run feral in the wilderness... so the question is where has this bird been? Back in the summer we thought we'd lost one, when Octave tried it on for size in stock pot... but that was another story.

The truth is out there... but we suspect this newly returned Bob was abducted by aliens...