Izzy it Is!

Sorry I have been MIA.

I can explain, but it is going to take some time.  I will try to update you daily as to the who, what, and where's of what has happened to me.  Just a little crazy around here, if you can guess.

Update on the crazy hen that decided to hatch some golf balls.  She amazes me daily, and I have more than one tale to tell where she is involved.  You can catch up on the story a few posts back, or click...Here!

Thank you for all the name suggestions.  I have not forgotten you, I just needed time to try them all out. She truly is a miracle, so I am sticking with Izzy.  I am dropping the "Dizzy" part because she is solid as a rock. She has a job, and she has been intent on doing it to the best of her ability.

I am including video below of one more reason that she truly is a miracle. After sitting and hatching her golf balls into seven of the cutest chicks you have ever seen, she has decided to foster another couple of teenagers. I affectionately refer to the older two as The Hooligans. They have been wearing me out living in my garage. They are flighty little things, and that has made it almost impossible to keep them contained. I have spent countless hours chasing them around, trying to corral them in one enclosure or another, and just as many hours cleaning up their messes when they have escaped.

To say that I reached the end of my rope would be an understatement. The two older birds are about 2 1/2 months old, and my first thought was to see if they could handle being with the big girls. That lasted about 3o seconds!  They were in a panic, running for their lives. They were under a lot of stress, so I isolated them with a single bird in another area. This was not an improvement.  I keep this specific bird alone at night because she gets a little picked on, and to my surprise, she relished in the idea of being the one doing the picking.

Girls can be mean.

At one point, when trying to fill feed bins, The Hooligans escaped into the area with Izzy and her seven offspring. I was certain they would quickly be whipped and sent flying, but to my surprise, not so much. Actually nothing happened. I was shocked. I waited until the next day, and then tried a supervised visit. If we were going to have a foster situation, I felt it was the least I could do to make sure they were moving into a healthy environment.

Note in the video that Izzy stays between The Hooligans and her little ones at first, but shows no sign of aggression towards them.

After about 15 minutes, I felt pretty confidant that the two older birds would be much safer with Izzy.  The worst they were experiencing were the little babies charging at them.  The funnier part being with each charge, they flinched.  I am not sure if it was due to the shock of being chased by the big girls, or if the little girls are just overly confidant.  They have been raised right, and by someone who knows what they are doing.

I took a different angle and shot a little more video before leaving. Izzy's whole demeanor had changed. She became more focused on me and my camera, even giving me a little warning with the ruffling of her neck feathers. I am sure she mumbled a few curse words, and let me know where the line in the sand was drawn.

This all may be a little more impressive to you, if I explain that there have been a couple of hens that have tried to get in with Izzy and her babies.  This did not go so well.  She viciously fought them back, and once they retreated out of her area, she gathered her little ones and took them back inside there brood box.  On one particular occasion, one of her little babies managed to slip outside the door.  Once on the other side of the door the little girl panicked.  She couldn't find her way back in.  Izzy went into over-drive and ran after her.  The only problem being, the other six little tike's followed her.  Before I knew what was happening, they were all outside the door, and had stepped outside the exterior door of the barn.

Just my luck, a curious little hen was close enough to see all of this, and she wanted to investigate.  In a matter of 2.8 seconds, Izzy was on top of her, had her by her comb, and had slammed her head to the ground and was letting her have it!  I was shocked!  She finally released her and turned to gather her little ones.  Izzy had taken about three steps away when the hen that had been attacked decided she was not going to take that.  She jumped Izzy from behind and let her have it, but only briefly.  Then she quickly retreated.

I am sure I was standing there with my mouth open, trying to process what I had just seen.  It dawned on me...I had witnessed the equivalent of a girl fight, right down to the pulling of hair.  If you had been ring-side, you would understand how amazing it is that she has allowed The Hooligans in the group.  I think maybe because they have not grown their combs at this point, they must not be deemed a threat.

P.S.  I fixed the second video...it should be available now.