Out For A Stroll

Today I was doing some yard work so I decided to let the chickens out for a stroll.  This is their first time out of the coop and run since July 4th when they lost one of their sisters.  I'm sure it felt good to run and jump and stretch and take dust baths again.  The four Buff Orpingtons stayed together in a panicky group.  One of them would panic and the other three panicked along with her.  I panicked too.  The way they sounded you'd think a fox was after them.  After an hour or so of panicky behavior, they settled down.  As I emptied my compost piles the chickens enjoyed scratching and eating the worms at the bottom of the pile.  The Orpingtons stayed close to me all day while Meredith went on her own.  As the sun was setting I had the four girls back in the enclosure and there was no sign of Meredith.  I found her in the driveway scratching and pecking all by her lonesome.  She looks rather pitiful, poor Meredith, with her unfeathered back end.  The feathers on the top of her head looked new and shorter.  Her neck feathers are long and beautiful orange and brown with black tips.  They move separately when she turns her head and they remind me of a lion's mane.  I was patient with her as she moved along exploring.  For a half hour we walked slowly along toward the coop.  In the end I had to scoop her up and put her away.  Meredith has lost weight.  She is not nearly as hefty as she once was and her breastbone felt sharp under my hand.  The stroll was successful.  No foxes appeared today.