We had a situation today.

Hannah’s off camping on Matinicus Island this week, so we’re in charge of putting the critters away at night. When Paul went to put The Girls in their run, he came up one Buff short.

This little girl was nowhere to be found.

This is “Little” Hannah’ favorite chicken. Little is so special to Hannah that the chicken has been granted a lifelong pardon when she stops laying.

Paul came in to tell me that Little was missing. I immediately put down what I was doing and went out with a can of scratch calling her (this always works); no chicken Little. I scoured the bushes and underbrush. I cruised the drive thinking maybe she’d wandered off down the road. I double counted the chickens to make sure Paul hadn’t overlooked someone. No chicken Little. My mind was racing with thoughts of just how we were going to tell Hannah that we’d lost our first chicken to a predator? And it was her chicken Little. Paul was in the dog house. BIG time.

A bit later, Paul filled up the Big Blue Bucket with feed for the meat birds. As he walked down the drive to their pen, it wasn’t just the meat birds who took notice. Little appeared out of the woods on the other side of the ravine (otherwise known as no man’s land) and came hauling ass back to the farm as fast as her little legs and wings could carry her. All for the sight of the Big Blue Bucket.

Thank goodness for the Big Blue Bucket.