Missing presumed dead

Budge is our Jersey Giant Cockerel, called Budge as when he hatched he was the only egg out of 24 to make it and so he sang like a budgie for the first few weeks of his life to try and get chickens to come to him. He became quite used to us, or we to him as he grew in a bird cage in the kitchen and finally when old enough he was expelled to the great outdoors.

Once there he established himself as the greatest coward on drumsticks and ran a mile every time another member of the poultry fraternity made advances in his direction. He is a very big and very handsome bird but prefers to live a fairly solitary existence at the far end of the smallholding. Occasionally he will venture up to the stables but only if the coast is clear of bird life, he definitely has attachment disorder and by the looks of his reaction when he sees a hen the thought of commitment terrifies him.

He was missing a few days ago, missing usually means death by foxes in these here parts but so far Budge has escaped that fate. Quite how this bird brain of Britain has managed to avoid being the foxes next meal is a bit of a wonder particularly when we found him in a spot of bother like this picture shows. Clearly his spatial awareness is not very accurate as he thought he could squeeze through the gap between the fence, wire, ground and a very large rock. Luckily he was spotted by us before any harm could come to him and after a bit of effort he eventually popped out none the worse for wear.

If he didn't have a huge bald patch where his feathers got pulled out as I rescued him you would hardly know he had been through such an ordeal.