It’s not every day that you discover a new talent, but today was one of those days.

There must be a hole in the barn somewhere because some of Greg’s chickens have been escaping over the past few days. This morning, only 3 Rhode Island Reds were left (those are the hens that lay brown eggs). 

Well, today, I’m taking Zoe for a walk in her wagon, just up and down the driveway, when I see the dog chasing a R.I.R. chicken across the lawn. They were going towards the road, and there was a car coming, and I was sure they were both going to be hit. So I start yelling at the dog, chasing her, and they circle back around. The chicken hides in one of the big pine trees.

I tried to get to it after putting the dog away, but this is a big tree. If I was TRULY determined, I may have been able to catch it, but she just kept jumping higher and higher on the branches.

So I sprinkled some food around the tree, hoping to coax her out. I counted the R.I.R.s running loose in the barn. Still three. Talked to Greg and discovered that this one I’ve found has been missing for a couple of days.

Kudos to this young chick (a few months old) for managing to survive these past few days of 100F heat without water. I don’t know how she did it.

I brought her a water bowl and put Zoe to bed.

And then I went outside. To cluck. That’s right. I tried it once, for shits and giggles. I mean, if it didn’t work, at least there was no one around to laugh at me. 

But it did. I got to clucking and the chicken actually felt safe enough with me around to hop down from her branch and start munching away on the grass below the tree. This is probably because I had a hand in hatching her. Children know their parents. 

And then she found the food. 

Twenty minutes of clucking (by the way, to make a realistic sound takes effort, and my cheeks hurts), I was only a foot and a half away. I circled around her and when she least expected it, I POUNCED! I caught her leg, grabbed her, and carried the poor thing back to the barn with all her brothers and sisters.

I know now that I have a friend in them.

I am the Chicken Whisperer.