The other afternoon we were distracted by the near death experience of our hen.
Madame Arcati!
Meredith answers a knock at the door.
“Bonjour… Quoi?…Oh non!…OH NON…!”
“What?”
“NON…!”
“WHAT?”
“It’s Maurice–he’s says his dog has just killed our hen!”
Our neighbour, Maurice, was walking his dog past the house when his mobile rang; distracted, he didn’t notice his dog slip off into our garden and grab Madame Arcati by the neck.
An understandably distraught Meredith follows Maurice back into the garden.
The hen is nowhere to be seen–except for an ominous sign…
“She was was lying there on the grass–dead–I thought…” says Maurice, staring at a trail of feathers.
an ominous trail of feathers....
Maurice apologizes profusely, offers to pay any vet’s bills and leaves with his equally puzzled dog.
Meredith bends down and peers into the bushes hoping against hope….
At this point a stream of strangers stride up the drive heading for the church–
hikers armed with Nordic walking sticks on an afternoon outing, taking advantage of the brilliantly sunny weather.
It is beginning to resemble a film by Jaques Tati.
“Bonjour, Monsieur–Bonjour Madame—I think that gentleman’s dog just killed my hen!”
Oblivious of the drama playing itself out around them–or choosing not to understand–they barely react to Meredith’s tragic revelation–and walk on to congregate in front of the church.
Meredith leans down again willing the poor bird to be there–and this time hears a familiar clucking sound from deep in the bushes.
She’s alive! But where?
Madame Arcati is a wily bird and a tough old thing–not table material.
Meredith finally spotted her on the other side of the garden wall–how she managed to get there will remain a mystery–needs must when a dog is about to swallow you..!
Gingerly, step by careful step and answering her cluck for cluck, I edged her slowly towards the courtyard where she headed straight for the safety of the pigeonnier.
Apart from a small wound on the bald patch on her neck where the dog had grabbed her, she’s survived unharmed–we sprayed the wound with disinfectant and installed her in her little house to reflect on being the hen with two lives.
We then had to deal with the kitten (fast using up his nine!)–stuck up the fig tree!
Robin Ellis 
Your comment about feeling like you were in a film by Jacques Tati made me laugh out loud – I completely understand! I’m so glad Madame Arcati escaped mostly unscathed.
Crazy looking hen, I’ve never seen one like that. I’m glad she came through unscathed, she must be fun to have around.
P.S. If the kitten can go up, he should be able to come down. Let him try it for himself or I think he may make it into the game of rescue. That’s what I did with my kitten and she seemed to manage for herself. That’s my advice anyway, though your anxiety is understandable as that limb is pretty narrow.
Whew–I raced to the end of your post to make sure there was a happy ending! I’m glad your hen is OK!! I’m amazed at how resilient they can be…My sister had a chicken whose foot or toes got caught badly on a fence & nearly BROKE it clean off…There was really nothing she could do to fix it–and the poor creature quickly learned to hop about without it. Thankfully, animals don’t worry about their ailments like we do; they just adjust.
You may just want to keep an eye on Madame to make sure the others birds don’t pick on her while she’s recuperating. My sister kept the hurt bird in her own pen until she could “hold her own” once again in the pecking order. Poor thing!
Poor Meredith, too!! We can certainly sympathize with her!!
Cheers & hugs to you both–and Beau, too!
EEEEEEEEEEEk! Meredith my heart goes out to you, it’s an awful feeling finding feathers and worrying about what you will find. My little rufus did the same thing to my friends chicken (the chicken was bigger than rufus so how he managed is beyond me) but luckily the chicken was okay. I did offer to pay for a vet but my friend asked for a piece of my art instead so all was well, although the chicken has a big dent in it’s backside.
I LOVE the photo of your Madame, what sort of a chicken is she?
Good question! We are not sure–maybe someone will enlighten…?
Meredith here: I can’t find any hen that resembles her in my chicken reference books or online! She must be a mix. I got her in the nearby town of Realmont at a Poultry fair. I was giving away a bantam cockerel who was too noisy (he was hatched from a bantam egg someone gave us). The French farm woman who took him (to breed with her own, she assured me, not for coq au vin!) insisted on giving me one of her hens as an exchange. Madame Arcati (who gets her name from the zany medium character in Blithe Spirit) used to lay eggs, but I think she’s past it now. I sympathize with her predicament! We keep her on as a pet. Her favorite treats are madelines, crushed walnuts and cheese!
We don’t have any other hens at the moment, so she won’t be bullied in her declining years….(She was the worst bully!)
lol, your comment made me smile, sounds like madame has quite a personality.
Sorry, Madame A., but this did make me laugh on a stormy, snowy, windy day in Vermont. Lots of knitting (now where did I put those feathers I saved from my hens? I could make her a neck warmer), preparing for power outages, eating and napping.
Loud scream – dog just ate my expensive bamboo circular needle!!! What? you are 12 years old you beast, not a puppy!!!
Deep breaths. We will survive our animals. Maybe. Shelagh.
Oh my goodness, what a story! You both must have been distraught…but a happy ending thank goodness. My sister’s (long departed) dog once got into the henhouse and killed 6…Mme Arcati was lucky indeed. A Charmed & Charming Chook!
I’m so glad she was ok. As a fellow hen keeper I could feel your fear! 2 of my girls have been moulting these past few weeks (why do they moult in the cold weather?!) and the poor things looked so bedraggled and the other girls have been picking on them. Pleased to say they are now getting back to their former feathered glory 🙂 and I’m sure your lovely lady will to.
She took a plucking, but keeps on clucking…. 🙂
Good for her!!
Luckin’ out she keeps on trucking’!
So what I was about to say when I was so rudely interrupted by Miss Gilly was – I think it is a hen-dog plot to get her moved into the house where she obviously belongs.
Ah, la vie francaise avec Robin et Meredith.
So glad Madame Arcati survived.
But what of Beau? Hope he has survived the adventure in the fig tree. My neighbour Elisabeth frequently had to get the local fire brigade to rescue her cat from the neighbours’ parapet.
Madame Arcati is certainly an elegant looking chicken. I’m glad she survived the attack! I believe Martha Stewart would know what kind she is. Martha has lots of beautiful chickens.
Long live Madame Arcati! Chickens are wonderful pets and I am so glad all’s well that end’s well.
I love happy endings!
Absolutely loved this tale! Thanks Robin for sharing it with us. I was as anxious as you about this bird!
That you’ve christened the hen as Madame Arcati is just the very best. Obviously, she’s a blithe spirit, too.
Happy news she’s got a few more lives, along with Beau.
Your menagerie are almost more challenging than children of the human sort!! LOL!
Hi Robin,
Love to hear from you…poor Madame Arcati. I think she don’t like the neighbour’s dog anymore, love is over! I hope she will recover soon, it’s too much violence for her age.
Beautiful pict of Beau. Love to hear about him. Is he breaking down your house? Our kitten is playing very wild but when I’m cooking she is watching everything I’m doing while I ‘m preparing a meal for the family. She sits on a chair all the time and likes too smell all the vegetables and is very surprised when our guinea pig is eating cucumber!
Best wishes from Caroline P.
Good that she survived it.
It let me think way years back(when I was a child)we had a duck, sadly one eye got pecked out by a nasty turkey.Duckie survived the matter, we removed-exit the nasty turkey.Duckie was the best guard you can imaging with her load kwak-kwak when someone came close in the back garden.Then sadly about 12 years later we found some feathers , and Duckie was not found anymore.A few days earlier a Hawk was circling around we where wouried for the cats…We still suspect that the Hawk took Duckie, sad but we also think she had 12 nice years by us.Kindly regards Dear Robin, Chantal xx.
Bonjour!
What a loveIy story! I am happy your hen is still alive, and on the mend!!
I am curious to know what provence you live in. I use to live in France myself, my favorite Europen country.
Cheers!!
Oh dear. Beau is up a tree again? 😉
Long life to M.me Arcati! Seems she has many life, thanks God! Thanks to share us this story, wiith a well-end 😉 Madame is very beautiful, never seems another one so coloured. A question: why Arcati? Seems to me a name from Italian’s family…its true??! Have a great week end xoxoxo
Wonderful ending! Oh my, and all those feathers! Is she bald now?
No–a miracle!
I think she frightened the life out the dog!
Hi Robin – happy belated birthday – 70 – where have the years gone and you look good on it!
Your hen is gorgeus – fiercesome looking gal – probably a “bitsa” ie bits of this and that. What colour eggs does she lay.
And Monsieur Beau – getting handsomer by the day – feel on his feet/paws finding you and Meridith didnt he?
Weather in London cold and frosty – winter has arrived.
Happy New year – somewhat late.
best wishes Alison
Thanks-her eggs are white.
Sorry to poor Madame, but I just had to laugh at the description of the “ominous trail of feathers” … I suppose Meredith could make a feather boa?
oh what a wonderful story or more like a wonderful ending I should say! If only all hens were as resilient
I find it a beautiful bird, they can go old if they have shelter (for the cold).Kindly regards, Chantal xx.
The story of Madam Arcati’s escape could be by La Fontaine.
Her glorious fin-de-siecle fascinator and her love of madeleines by Proust. .
Her evocative name by Coward, Meredith and you.
What fun she must be! So happy she has lived for you to tell the tale.
Hmmm – She looks either Polish or Houdan mix.
Fan of chicken sagas here… And I like this Tatiesque tale of events starring Mme. Arcati! (A regular Jud Paynter of a chicken…)