Hubs named the dear deserted Peggy, and also named Gertrude, aka Gertie. This is Gertie:
I’m thinking she will end up being “blue,” which is a fancy word for grey. I’m kind of excited for a blue animal.
Gertie was the second victim of the mystery chicken snatcher, although she fared much better. Late in the day we discovered Peggy was missing, hubs noticed Gertie was limping badly. Usually, she is the speed demon and she does NOT like to be picked up. But when Hubs noticed her she wasn’t really trying to get away and she could barely stand, never mind run.
Chicken inspector time! Much like the evidence surrounding Peggy’s disappearance, we found a chicken-wire bulge and grey feathers indicating something had tried to drag Gertie out of the cage. Thankfully, the chickie-snatcher got her leg instead of her head.
We realized we needed better, tighter wire around the coop. We spend some time that evening fortifying the area and caring for Gertie. She was happy to be held, which was new. By the next afternoon she was using the leg and looks like she’s going to make a full recovery.
Ladies and gentlemen: Gertie the Speed Demon!