Return Of Laya (best hen ever)

Where to begin?



First a confession ... I hid what I thought was a sad event from you.

About six months ago, the best hen ever, Princess Laya, went missing from my free ranging banty band of birds.



There were 3 roosters and Laya.

They all seemed to have mastered the art of surviving free, where many others had not.

Every night they roosted at the very tops of my very high oaks to avoid coons and other predators ... like the neighbors' cats.



Then, early last fall, Laya failed to show up in the yard.

Not to worry, because she would disappear for long periods when she was nesting.



But then, months went by without any sign of her. There had been some midnight squawking and twice the roosters had been on the ground near the house at night, so I figured something was hunting them and it seemed Laya had fallen victim to the predator.



A stray cat went to the pound, a raccoon went down the road, but in my heart, it was all to late for Laya.



I was aggravated, because she had been such a chick producing trooper.

I hid this news by not sharing it here on PF.



(I knew Dani would take it hard)



In the meantime, the 3 roosters disappeared just recently. I heard one of them crowing from the woods beyond my property a few weeks ago and I figured that the boys were ranging farther for food or had shacked up with the neighbors.



I can't see my neighbors, but I had heard Guineas and ducks through the trees, so it made sense that maybe my boys were freeloading there.


Last weekend, Mrs. FC said she had seen a strange chicken in the yard, that was not one of the boys.

Hmmm.

Neither of us considered that it might be Laya, since in our minds, she was dead.





BUT SHE WASN'T!!!!!


The rascal!
She's not talking about where she's been or what she's been doing for the last 6 months.
She is definitely back though.
How neatly wonderful is that?



Speaking of wonderful things ... these are baby datil peppers and yowza! ... the germination rate is spectacular!

Thank you to all who have ordered seeds so far. I feel pretty confident you will have similar germination success.

I still have plenty of seeds if you have a hankering for the delightful, delicious, devilishly hot Datil.