The chickens are afraid of the dark. If we turn out the barn lights, they start clucking wildly and running around on top of each other. We have installed a night light for the chickens. They're so ridiculous.
I cut a little door in the barn to the outside, a chicken-size door. We made a big outdoor run and put an electric fence around it for predators. (There are so many predators in our area that our neighbors, who used to have a flock of a dozen, now have one chicken and one rooster.) This was about four days ago, when I installed the door, but the chickens are too afraid to go outside. There are a few brave ones who will stand in the doorway to feel the wind rustle their feathers. I shoved one outside, and it looked around and shook with fear for a minute, then stepped cautiously back in the door. It made me feel mean for wanting it to enjoy the sunshine. They're so ridiculous.
Chickens aren't especially nice to each other, pecking on each other all the time, but still they are terrified of being alone. I was working on the little enclosure in the barn we have for them, and all of the chickens except for one went into another area, so I shut the door. The one who was left behind was sleeping, a rather cute, fluffy white fowel. I went about my business in the chicken coop, and the fluffy white chicken who had been dozing woke up, finding herself all alone with me - and no other chickens! She looked around and started shaking with fear and clucking, becoming increasingly agitated, until I opened the door to where the other chickens were and she hesitated, looked around for a second, and then made a mad dash for the other chickens!
They're so ridiculous.
If you really cared about your chickens,you would wear a chicken suit around them so they would not be scared of you. It would also help if you pecked at them a little. Jeezz!
ReplyDeleteKind of makes you feel a little better about eating them, eh?
ReplyDeleteSorry, that sounds really cute to me, but I live with dogs who have a collective IQ of 5 so I tend to find ridiculous things adorable.
ReplyDeleteThey are sort of adorable. They finally went outside, or at least, about half of them are going outside, now. Silly chickens.
ReplyDeleteI had to wrangle Antonia's chickens yesterday. Two were very obliging, and went back into their coop. Number three, however ... I tried scratch, I tried talking pretty, I tried shoeing her with the "Chicken Wranglin' Stick." No luck. Man, that chicken is DUMB! She'd look around vacantly, and just before I'd get her she'd do a quick zig zag, and then continue ambling slowly off, just out of my reach. After 1/2 hour of that, I had to ask myself: who is dumber?
ReplyDeleteAntonia came home later, and said chicken squatted down to make it easy for her to pick her up and carry her back to the coop.
Sigh.
Oh, Rose. They are so goofy! Now they go outside when I go out to shew them back in! They think I'm going out to greet them or something. BTW, I applied for a librarian job this week. They aren't even hiring, but there was nothing to lose in giving the library my resume.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the library job! I love working in libraries. Except I think I was murdered in one in an earlier life, as I get a queasy feeling in my stomach when I go in them ... Anyway, hiring freezes in the libraries all around here, school and public. So when I go in to work on a LOVELY, SUNNY MONDAY ... I really try to feel grateful. and I am, mostly ;=)
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