Calblog

Chicken update

Two weeks ago, I went off to the Religious Education Congress. Friday morning before I left, I went out to see the chikcens. The three of them had grown pretty big. The rooster had greenish-black tailfeathers. They saw me exit the house and got all excited, clucking and pacing. I got to their cage and opened the doors. No one would jump out and to the ground until I petted them. I have raised birds before and had many that were affectionate but it still surprises me.

After I cleaned their cage and laid in food and water, I went back in the house to get grapes, their favorite treat. I was, after all, leaving them for two days. Alas! There were no grapes. I spotted some sliced mushrooms that were looking like they needed to be eaten soon. I took those out.

The chickens were now in the grass where I throw their treats and the sight of me got them going again. I grabbed the first handful of mushrooms and tossed them to the ground. The rooster grabed one and took off, two hens in hot pursuit. Mind you, they've never seen mushrooms before. The rooster ran up and down the yard while the hens tried to get that mushroom. I stood there telling them how dumb they were since I had just tossed bunches of the same thing to the ground. Finally, the hens gave up and came back to me and the plethora of mushrooms. Then they stood there, scared to try them. I stood there, again explaining to them how stupid they were. I was also laughing and having a genuinely good time hanging out with my chickens.

Unfortunately, that was the last I saw of them. When I returned home, they hadn't been seen since I left. There were no signs of foul play. If a predator got them, it would have been a hawk. The other predators here seem to always leave evidence. More likely, though, they wandered off and got lost. It had starting to rain that day and that could be enough to confuse the birdbrains. We once were visited by someone else's chickens who immediately decided to just stay even though we weren't feeding them. (We found the rightful home of those chickens).

I'm surprised at how much I miss them two weeks later. However, time marches on and today, a new batch of chicken eggs goes into the incubator. Bantam chickens this time, a smaller breed. I'm also gettng new fish today, having corrected the tank condition that killed the last ones. Tomorrow,we're going to the bunny adoption day. It's spring and calblog husband doesn't really want more children.

Posted by Justene Adamec at March 6, 2004 09:45 AM | TrackBack