As promised- here’s the story of Epi the Hen. . . Rooster?. . . Hen. . .

We found her in the parking lot at school. Someone in the business complex said she had been there for days. We tried to catch her that day but she is a wild thing. Mr. Plate and I kept chickens in our pre-culinary school life and so we knew she would find a nice place to roost in a bush come twilight so we went back and there she was in a very thick hedge. We plucked her right from her roost.

Much to Little Plate’s delight our (then rooster) hen got to spend the night in our apartment. She ate organic oats and drank lots of water and seemed quite happy. Our intention was to re-home her to one of the friendly farms I toured during Current Issues in Food week. Epi had her own ideas though. The next morning I put her on our patio so she could feel the breeze and see the pretty blue sky. I went to giver her some breakfast and she bolted. I’m not even kidding, I’m sure all night she was devising her escape plan and she was ready when I tilted the baking cooling rack off the top of her box. In an instant she was flying straight at me and onto the patio.

She then found a hidey-hole into the crawl space under the apartment building. We took the access door off and explored but there was a corner that no man could reach. We then continued to offer her fresh scraps and water under the patio. Anyway, all attempts to recapture and re-home were to no avail. On the bright side our apartment complex has a huge green way, tons of grass and trees, and lots of friendly hipsters (they are seriously in awe that there’s a chicken in the middle of Austin) where she has had the BEST time digging for bugs and enjoying dirt baths. Much better than the parking lot at school. Also she is a savvy little chicken. She has no problem evading unwanted visitors human or non. I really think she is the happiest wild hen ever. FREEDOM! Best wishes Epi Chicky!