A Comox Valley chicken named Doris is recovering in her owner’s home after getting its feathers ruffled during what was likely a terrifying ordeal.
“Right here, this is where it happened because this is where all the feathers were,” said Brenda Mathieson, pointing to a chicken coop, which is located at a home near Point Holmes.
It was Wednesday (April 21) when Mathieson’s son, Dylan, heard a commotion in the coop, went to investigate and found a huge eagle inside the fence and on the ground.
“I think it was having a snack right there and I figured Doris was done for,” he recalled.
Dylan, whose dog Lucy managed to scare the eagle away, likely with Doris in its grasp, said he didn’t see the chicken but figured she’d met her fate.
“I couldn’t believe it, I thought she was dead,” said Dylan. “There was a lot of feathers on the ground. Poor chicken lost a lot of feathers.”
“It was just a big schmozzle of chickens running everywhere and Dylan not sure if he was going to face off with an eagle,” added Brenda.
It’s not unusual for eagles to snatch chickens, small animals and even pets but they don’t usually come back like Doris did three days later.
Brenda said she was in the pen and had left the gate open when she noticed Doris heading towards her.
“I looked again and oh my gosh that was her,” exclaimed Brenda. “She was coming back in to feed so she was going to eat and drink and she was missing for three days.”
No one is really sure what happened or how she escaped from the eagle but she was worse for wear having lost about a third of her feathers on one side and quite a big of flesh.
Doris, who is only a one-year-old Rhode Island Red Chicken, is now on pain medication and recovering in the house.
“I think it’s pretty good you know, she’s a tough bird. It’ll be nice when she’s laying again and producing but we’ll give her a bit of a holiday,” joked Brenda’s husband Jeff.
All kidding aside, Doris has somehow lived to see another day.
Doris, a one-year-old Rhode Island Red Chicken, is now on pain medication and recovering after being snatched by an eagle. Doris was snatched last Wednesday and somehow managed to not only survive but return home three days later. (CHEK News)
Dean Stoltz
