Chickens strike back

We always feel a little guilty that we keep our chickens caged in a back corner of the yard, while ourselves, the dog and the magpies are free to roam. At least Nat feels guilty, while I'm a bit ambivalent. Anyway, this week the chickens got their revenge and it all fell on Ella's shoulders.

It was Wednesday evening, and we had just finished an early dinner because Annwen, Ashley and Nathan, as well as Annwen's mum Jan, were leaving at 6pm to catch the flight home to Perth. Gareth, Kelly and Jessica were also over, and we were relaxing in the garden as the kids, who had spent a fantastic week playing together, ran around. Ella and Ashley decided to have one last look for chicken eggs when disaster struck.

Our chicken house is a somewhat ingenious invention -- nothing to do with our ingenuity as it came with the chickens. The chickens creep in from their side to lay eggs or go to sleep, while we can lift the lid to access the eggs without needing go into the coop. The lid, however, is both heavy and covered with sharp corrugated iron. An accident waiting to happen with 4-5 year olds, and it did. The two girls lifted the lid as a team, and seemed to think that the other would hold it aloft. They let it go simultaneously, and it came falling down, slashing both of Ella's thumbs and one of Ashley's. Luckily, Ashley's wasn't too bad, but Ella's was bleeding profusely. We had no option but to flee to the hospital (Nat sitting in the back trying to staunch blood flow, Katy with us so that she didn't get taken to Perth by mistake) and leave Annwen and Co to clean up our dinner before they caught their flight.

The wound turned out to be less serious than it might have been. It needed a pretty hefty bandage and will be re-dressed several times over the next week, but hopefully no permanent damage. We were back home within an hour or so, but not in time to say goodbye to our visitors...