Some people might have shrugged their shoulders and just let it go. Maria is not one of those people. Every day, the Impeerious hens would crawl under the pasture fence and feast on the manure pile and the droppings and bugs in the pasture and the pole barn. Last week, Mike fixed the wobbly wall, effectively trapping the hens in the pole barn.

We didn’t realize they were stuck back there until we came to open the roost one morning. They were all curled up in the pole barn beside the sheep all night.

Too bad, I said, but they have plenty of things to eat in the backyard and along the South fence.   The hens were distraught. They kept going to the same spot over and over again. They were unhappy. They love pecking at that manure pile, especially when the flies and bugs show up,  as they are beginning to do.

(Luring them in.)

I should have known better than thinking this would stand. Every morning, Maria woke up with a different plan for giving the puzzled and frustrated chickens access to the pasture again. I vetoed two or three of them, and I hate messing with a secure fence. If things can get in, things can get out, and things you don’t want to get in a can.

But that is true of our gates as well. Maria wasn’t letting go; I knew when to shut up. Her heart is as big as life.

Finally, she came up with a plan. She started digging an under a section of the fence and away from the gate. There was nothing to object to. Large animals couldn’t get in or out. But the hens didn’t quite get the idea. So Maria went out every afternoon with a favored gourmet treat – bits of fish, crab salad, and popcorn. Mary and Anne needed some persuasion, but when Maria sat inside and sprinkled bits of cod, both gave in and crawled under.

It also took the old white hen another 15 or 20 minutes to slide in. Maria sang and pleaded with them; she ensured they got the idea by dropping morsels of food on both sides and watching to ensure they knew how to get in and out. They have their new path to the pasture.

Mission accomplished. I said almost no one would do this for three chickens, including me.

I know, she sighed, but she was very pleased with herself. Somehow, I know the hens appreciate her.

Inside the fence, victory.

The chicken story had a happy ending, and Maria was pleased.

______

 

P.S. My rented 85 mm lens past the Maria test. I love the portrait of her peering out from some flowers on the porch.