Two nights ago, Sela and I could be found in the pitch black night trying to feel our way through the trees searching for chickens. The chickens are the easiest animals to take care of on most days. I am so happy we have them and the promise of some very wonderful eggs in the near future. They are very fun to watch. But don't mess with their sleep schedule. We usually keep the coup door open in the daytime. Then around dusk, the chickens come back inside on their own, huddle in the corner, the exact same place every night, and they sleep. Then one of us shuts the door to protect them during the night and then we let them out again in the morning. Maybe five minutes of time a day to keep 29 chickens happy. Well, Zig was in New York this week and in the busyness of the day, I headed out a bit later than normal to do a final check and close the door. That's when I saw a big mound of chickens huddled up outside the coup as close to their inside spot as they could be. One of the kids or neighbors had shut the gate earlier which prevented them from getting back in. So they got as close as they could to their sleeping spot and called it a day.
I thought I could just wake them and chase them in. I got one of Rollin's soft bats to shoo them along. And they wouldn't move an inch, even with prodding. They were really irritated. I had to summon Sela, the true farm girl. She tried to push them along which didn't work and then she just started picking them up one by one. The thought never crossed my mind. I haven't handled the chickens who poop without notice near as much as the kids. I love them but not quite the same way as the kids. But here I was picking up chickens in the dark(I even did two at once!) and putting them in the coup. We counted as we put them back in and found we were five short. The chickens like to perch in the trees near the coup so we started listening and feeling our way around in the low branches of the evergreen trees. I saw some white feathers in the moonlight and told Sela to see if it was a chicken (who's the chicken?!). She grabbed it and it started squawking and trying to get away but Sela was undeterred and just grabbed it tighter and took it to the coup. Then we continued to feel around in the dark listening for quiet breathing sounds and we found them all except for one. There are limits to how much searching both of us wanted to do in the dark!
So, it was a bonding moment for all of us, the chickens, Sela and I!
2 comments:
Oh boy, I can just see you now! How funny! Bet the gate doesn't get shut before dusk anymore. Sela really is a true little farm girl. She just has this special gift and love of nature and animals. I remember being there when Zig let the chickens out for the first time and late in the afternoon I asked Sela if she thought it was time for us to round the chickens up since it was going to get dark soon and, low and behold, she had already got every last one in the pen by herself. Most kids her age wouldn't have even thought of it, much less, taken the initiative to do something about it!! My hat off to you, Sela - really impressive!!
that was a fun experience and a fun read! I am not near as brave as Sela. I can hardly pick up a bug...once I feel it move in my hands it's all over!
Post a Comment