Apparently you SHOULD count your chickens!

So, like I said, we just got a foot of snow.  A foot of wet, heavy snow...from a hefty blizzard.  The day of the blizzard it wasn't snowing in the morning.  It wasn't even snowing by lunchtime.  So we let the chickens out.  It was a gorgeous day, and the chickens were wandering farther than they had all year so far....

See where this is going?  Stay with me...

Snow started around 2 or 3pm-ish on THURSDAY, and our chickens hate being out in the snow.  We figured it was probably a good time to shut the chickens in, so Charlotte wandered on down with a fresh bucket of water, and shut them in for the storm.

See it yet?

Thursday evening we watched it snow, and snow, and snow.  The wind howled, and howled, and howled.  Friday we didn't venture out much...Charlotte took care of the chickens again, but other than that and Matt spending massive amounts of time clearing the driveway, we just didn't go outside.

Flash forward to today...SATURDAY.  We let the chickens out, collected eggs, brought them fresh water, and they all seemed happy and healthy.  Even Miss Henrietta (our broody) was still sitting away.  However, today as Matt rounded the corner of the garage around 1pm, he found something.

I bet you see it now, don't you :)

He found a chicken.  A chicken covered in snow.  A chicken covered in snow and ice that had been left outside during the blizzard...for TWO WHOLE DAYS.  She had ice and snow all over her face, back, under her wings, everywhere!  Matt brought her inside and I wrapped her up in a towel and stood with her in a sunny window to help the ice melt.  She looked healthy enough, surprisingly!  I stayed in the mudroom with her and after most of the ice melted off her I offered her some food.  She quickly ate.  Apparently she was hungry...very hungry!  If you look closely here, you can still see some ice in the middle of her back.  And yes, she is the same breed as our broody, but I'll assure you, our little clutch of eggs is safe and warm.

I kept her inside until her feathers were gooood and dry (maybe two hours?)...and by the time she pooped three times on my floor I figured she was healthy enough to go back to the coop.  She is one tough bird!

SO, I haven't counted my chickens before they've hatched, but apparently it's a good idea to count your chickens once in a while to make sure you're not missing one!  :)

The end.