Last
Sunday morning, we were having breakfast in the kitchen when I heard the most
unusual scream-like noise. I quickly got up, walked to the dining room and saw
a buzzard right by the patio door, standing underneath a white garden chair. As
it kept moving its wings, I thought it was injured and could not fly. Thinking
it was a great picture opportunity, I called out for Hubby to come and bring
the camera. For the 30 seconds or so I was waiting, I also noticed a group of
highly agitated crows flying close by in a circle. Then I realised that the
screaming noise was coming from underneath the buzzard and thought the buzzard might
have caught a crow. The victim certainly sounded like a distressed crow! However,
the body I could just about see under the buzzard was not black like a crow but
brown. So, it could not have been a crow. As I was given the camera and opened
the sliding door, the buzzard flew away leaving its
noisy prey behind. That’s when I realised that it was a Holly!!! Yes
Holly, one of our hens. She had a very lucky escape. By the time I
gave the camera back to Hubby, our chicken had run to hide under the nearest bush.
She stayed there for a good half an hour eventually accepting to eat just a few
seeds off my hand. Then, I managed to lure her out of her hide using tinned
corn and bits of banana. I was then able to have a better look at her. Nothing
major, a few missing feathers but no missing bits or obvious wound gushing blood!
For
the next couple of days, she was too sore to take her daily mud bath or preen herself.
Her wings looked uneven and sore. But after nearly a week, I can now say that she has
made a near-full recovery. Her body still looks a bit lopsided and she is still missing a few feathers but it will
take a few weeks for them to grow back.
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| The chair under which I found Holly and the buzzard |
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| Wing slightly facing outwards (compare with the hen above whose wing is nicely tucked against her body) |
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| A few feathers missing below the wing and around the back |
