CHICKEN SURVIVES 3 DAYS IN A FLOWER POT!

Three days ago we lost one of our two chickens we brought down with us from NSW. Rhode Island/Isa Browns Daisy and Tilly were not accepted by the four chooks (including Prince the rooster) that already live here and were too scared to roost with the rest of the group at night. They preferred the porch, in a bottom shelf or on the hall stand, among our outdoor jackets and boots! The day we locked the door to the porch to discourage them, we realised Tilly had disappeared.

Tilly, our miracle chicken

We were all upset when we couldn't find Tilly to put her to bed, however I wasn't really surprised. There are quolls here apparently and our experience with quolls in NSW was that they are vicious little carnivores who leave little or no sign of their prey. You can read abut what happened here: our chickens and quolls The next day Daisy was looking a bit confused and kept looking for her sister, but by the third day she was coping well and roosting with the others herself. (safety in numbers I guess).

the pot where Tilly spent 3 days with no food or water

Yesterday we had a fantastic time sightseeing some of our local area and came home after lunch. I was determined to finish a section of the garden so got stuck in. One of the jobs was to move all the empty ceramic pots and put them neatly upside down along the wall. I have two rust coloured pots, with NO DRAINAGE HOLES. I turned the second one over and out popped a rust coloured chicken to peck at a blade of grass! At first I thought it was Daisy, who had accidentally been trapped in there just then, but when I saw the muddy state of this one and the tail feathers missing I knew it was our missing chook, Tilly. I couldn't believe it! I was still shaking my head hours later.

Tilly was very wobbly, having had no food, water or air for three days, poor thing. She had a big drink of water and some seed, then spent the night in a crate in the laundry. Today she is perky, still filthy, and enjoying the sunshine in a secluded little pen by herself. (Prince kept climbing on top of her. No sense of propriety, that boy!) Thank goodness we hadn't had hot weather recently. Thank goodness I decided to rearrange those pots. I would hate to make a grisly discovery next week or next month...

The resilience of chickens! Amazing. The tear-stained face of my incredulous but relieved child said it all.

our pup Flossie's first experience of waves