We have a Smalley

Ok, only one more chicken post for the week. I promise. When I got 5 new chicks in March they were all the same size and color. They were all healthy and grew quickly...well, all except one. Meet Smalley. We named her after reading a post by a fellow blogger who has a chicken that is smaller than the others but seems to have overcome her issues named Smalley. I soon realized we have a Smalley too! My husband said she'sstunted and will probably never lay eggs. Oh yeah, like he's the chicken expert??? Paaleeezeee. He's just picking on her. See what she deals with? Even with her smaller than the others size she is doing quite well. She is the first one to the gate when we come out and allows us to catch her after not that much chasing, which considering the others run for their lives (even after feeding and handling them since birth--out of the goodness of my heart--off they go with the other older birds, influencing them to turn their backs on me...) is pretty remarkable. She's our girl. On to the rest of the chicken story...

My dog Sophie is a bit of a snob, but incredibly sweet and loves people. She doesn't think she's a dog most of the time. I let her come into the coop with me. She doesn't chase them and really just likes to sniff around and "do" other dog things. I think she feels she's part of the clean up crew, for lack of a better description. Gross. I, of course, know if I wasn't there she'd surely make a game of chasing them while barking. Well, here comes Smalley. The other chickens kind of stick to the edges of the cage or kind of follow her when she is in there. Smalley

kind of pecked her butt a while ago but it seemed more out of curiosity. This time it was obvious that Smalley had a plan. She lowered her head, slowly stalked up to Sophie face to face, and nailed her right in the face! Sophie was so surprised that she just kind of jumped and ran to the gate. Smalley was making sure that dog was not going to interfer with her chicken yard. You go Smalley! I wish I had my camera!