A Hen in Knitwear

pizza from last night's dinner

There is a line, and I have clearly crossed it. In the continuing saga with our hen Puffkins, I noticed yesterday that she seemed to be pecking at herself, at her own sore, recently-scabbed wing areas. She kept to herself quite a bit yesterday, during her first outing from the box in the kitchen in a few days. She would wander over to the house sometimes, I guess looking for an invitation back inside. When I returned from my walk, she came right over, let me pet her, and when I sat down on the grass, she sat right down next to me. Super sweet, right?

Puffkins in her box

Being an inventive problem-solver, I wondered what I had around the house that would stop her from preening/picking back there so that her wounds could really heal. Something like those cones that dogs get to stop them from worrying sore spots. Except that wouldn't work because chickens have these crazy reptilian necks that go in and out. I realized that Sylvan's neckwarmer would be just the thing: A chicken cozy!

Her expression says so much, for one whose brain is about the size of a nickel. Or maybe she was contemplating the taste of the shiny camera.