Cacciatore Triumphant

The chicken tractor has needed pooper-scooped for almost a month now.  Before you go and accuse me of being negligent with my girls, I must point out that I have in fact been out there with shovel and newspaper 3 times... and each time it has proceeded to pour on me.  Today we finally got our beautiful day and it was time for some homestead chores.  They would have gone perfectly smoothly, if it weren't for my little Cacciatore.

Cacciatore has always been one of our braver chickens.  Not rough and tough brave, like General Tso but rather busy body brave.  She has to know what's going on, and she'll forgo her chickeny skiddishness if she has to to  get that info.  

Cleaning out the tractor requires opening one entire side of the roof.  You can really only do it when all the girls are downstairs in their run.  When we designed the tractor, we made it so the ramp could be folded and latched upto keep everyone in or out of the upstairs.  That particular feature has never worked well so I was trying to work quickly, but being so overdue, there was a lot of work to do.  Then cacciatore got curious and decided to come upstairs.  I tried to coax her downstairs with my shovel and it took a few tries, but down the ramp she went.  She was not, however, to be deterred so easily.  We played that game 3 more times until finally she just would not be bullied back down the ramp and she made her break for it.  She jumped put of the tractor and fled immediately for the corn (which would already be cut down if it weren't for the rain).  That was her fatal mistake. My neighbor and i chased her down with relative ease compared to our one other jail break because she kinda found the corn terrifying.  She was returned to the run, feathers meddes up and full of bits of weed, but triumphant cuz she not only found out what was going on, but she got to go exploring to.  Oh, Cacciatore.