The Mystery of the Fifteenth Chicken

EJ needed to get a blood test in preparation for his medical tests so we left early Thursday morning for the lab to get it out of the way. We think he was probably the first one there because he was in and out very quickly. We had some grocery shopping to do and we wanted to stop at the thrift shop. The thrift shop didn’t open until 10 a.m. so we stopped at a small park and walked along the shore of the bay to–I won’t say “waste time” or “kill time” because it wasn’t a waste of time to enjoy the natural beauty. The clouds were very dark and so low that it looked as if we could stand on our tippee toes and touch them . This is one of the photos I took:

EJ said they looked like snow clouds. I shushed him because snow will come soon enough. However, it has been feeling like autumn lately. There were frost warnings last night.

Every evening I go out to shut the chickens securely in the coop. I always count them to make sure that they are all there before I leave and shut the door. We currently have 6 chicks and 15 adult chickens

Earlier this last week, I went out to the coop and after counting the chicks, I began counting the adults: one two, three…twelve, thirteen, fourteen. Where was the fifteen chicken? I recounted in case I missed one. I still reached only fourteen. I looked in every possible place a chicken could hide. I couldn’t find the missing chicken. I went outside and checked around their pen. Nothing. I checked for signs of foul (or fowl) play. Nothing. I looked outside the pen because occasionally–although rarely–a chicken escapes the pen. Nothing. I went back into the coop and recounted again. And again. And rechecked possible hiding places. Nothing.

Finally I gave up. Either I just wasn’t seeing the chicken or it had escaped the outside enclosure and, sadly, was likely to become a predator’s dinner. Nothing I could do about it. I went back to the house and to bed, but worried and dreamed about the missing chicken all night. I take my guardianship of the flock seriously.

The next morning I went out to feed the chickens and opened the doors of the coop so they could go in and out. I counted them again several times. Still fourteen. Throughout the day, I occasionally went out and counted the chickens. No fifteenth.

If I were Nancy Drew, I’d write a book titled “The Mystery of the Fifteenth Chicken.” Nancy Drew can create a huge mystery out of a seemingly small event and I’m sure she could find a mysterious cause for why the chicken was missing. Since I am not Nancy Drew, I am only writing a post about it rather than a book.

That evening when I went out to shut the chickens securely in their coop, I did my usual count: One, two, three…twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen. Wait! What? Confused, I counted again: Fifteen adult chickens. I went into the house and dragged EJ out, asking him to count the chickens. He verified that there were, indeed, fifteen chickens.

I felt like I was losing my mind. Where had the fifteen chicken been for 24 hours? And why was she back?

We sometimes jokingly theorize that cats have the power to teleport, since they seem to be able to appear to be in two places at once. I suggested to EJ that maybe the hen can teleport like cats and went on a grand adventure in time or space. He said he doubted that was the case.

Even though I am not Nancy Drew, I deduce that the little chicks had been huddled together, making it difficult to accurately count them. I suspect that one of the hens had been in the same area. I’ve been seeing a hen up in the chicks’ normal nesting area lately. I’m guessing that I was actually counting five chicks (with the sixth one hidden in the huddle) and one hen. I’m just not sure why, despite my many recountings over 24 hours, I never came up with fifteen adult chickens. I mean, the chicks don’t always huddle together all day long.

Whatever the case, wherever the hen had been, wherever she has returned from, I’m now back to six chicks and fifteen adult chickens. With that I must be content.