Deb just did a nice post about her excitement about chickens and this made me want to post my chicken story.
Let me set the scene. Many years ago we bought our first house - and had to go WAY out into what was then the country to be able to afford a house. And since we were in the country we bought an antique house, surrounded by apple orchards, with our closest neighbor about 1/4 mile away. Now picture a girl from NYC moving to rural Massachusetts, I was such a rube. The first night we moved in I went to take my dog for a walk, went to the end of the driveway and thought "what now - there are no sidewalks?". Poor Parker got walked in the yard only that night.
Anyway, our wonderful neighbors across the street had a huge old house and barn and they kept sheep and chickens. We would trade pet sitting and one year they went away and I got to take care of the sheep and the chickens - and to keep the eggs if I wanted them.
I came home from work the first night and ALL the chickens had gotten out of their coop somehow and were all clustered around the front barn doors, clucking and scratching, and making a general racket. Mr. Rooster was hiding somewhere, not protecting his girls at all. I had NO idea how to get them back into the barn. I opened the doors but they couldn't figure out how to get thru the doors and back into their little space. I wouldn't touch them - I thought they would bite. So, since I was wearing a red coat, which was long and beautiful and by a famous designer - I held open the flaps of the coat, and scrunched down and HERDED the damn chickens back into their coop. My husband was across the street HYSTERICAL with laughter. But he didn't offer to help, cause he was scared of them also. But it worked, they all moseyed back into the barn and into their section.
I didn't take the eggs, I was so scared that the chickens would bite me and fly at me, and peck my eyes out that I just left the eggs as they were. My neighbor collected them when she got home, and brought them over.
So that's my chicken story. I think that all chickens in the world share about 2 or 3 brain cells and just shuffle them around. I know that there are alot of chicken lovers out there who might take offence, maybe these were specially dopey chickens, but every time I took care of those animals I made sure they were well locked up and would never get out again. And I still never collected the eggs.
3 comments:
lol... i guess i would have done something similar with the coat... or i would have called my mom. ;)
good night mim, i´m off to bed (way too late again. it´s 3 am)
I grew up in town, but one of my neighbors got to bring home a rooster they'd hatched in a science class. When I'd "rooster sit" my father would have to go with me to fend off the rooster while I fed and watered it. It was one angry bird. His harem was a pair of plaster ducks. They finally gave him to some people who had hens, and his mood improved, or so I was told.
I'd rather pick up a python than an angry chicken.
I have to say I'm rather impressed with your creative strategy to herd the chickens. I would never have thought of that. I'd have been trying to push them with my feet or something. Very crafty : )
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