Last night I picked a friend up at the train station with time enough to get home and make sure the chickens were safe.
Maybe the wind blew the little chicken door closed. There was a closed and empty coop. I checked on the new girls in the shed by asking them if they were roosting, and got a couple of muttered replies, so I knew someone was in there anyway.
I thought the answered clucking I heard sounded wrong for the new voices. When I came back with the flashlight I got more response -
"Get that light out of my beak, I'm trying to sleep you idiot!"
Buck and the girls were lined up on the sawhorse with Becky and Barbie on the perch above them and no sign of Bibs. I thought she was probably in one of the nesting boxes, as she prefers to stay close to the ground.
She was with everyone when I left a couple of hours earlier so I figure one of two things happened.
She didn't dare go into the shed with the Alpha chickens or she was grabbed by some hungry sanctuary dweller before bedtime.
It was good to see that everyone could be in one place without squabbling but it was not good to have lost a chicken.
No sign of her today either.
Tonight, at dusk, I was in the kitchen, and Buck came to the door. This was new. He looked at me as though he hoped he could get me to have a clue.
I thought maybe he was lobbying for snacks but when I came out with lettuce, he was heading for the chicken house, calling his hens to follow.
I know it's anthropomorphic to think he was telling me that they were about to roost, and would I please come and close the door properly or make sure they could get into the coop, but being anthropomorphic has never bothered me before.
What should bother me is the feeling that I'm being managed by a chicken.
Maybe the wind blew the little chicken door closed. There was a closed and empty coop. I checked on the new girls in the shed by asking them if they were roosting, and got a couple of muttered replies, so I knew someone was in there anyway.
I thought the answered clucking I heard sounded wrong for the new voices. When I came back with the flashlight I got more response -
"Get that light out of my beak, I'm trying to sleep you idiot!"
Buck and the girls were lined up on the sawhorse with Becky and Barbie on the perch above them and no sign of Bibs. I thought she was probably in one of the nesting boxes, as she prefers to stay close to the ground.
She was with everyone when I left a couple of hours earlier so I figure one of two things happened.
She didn't dare go into the shed with the Alpha chickens or she was grabbed by some hungry sanctuary dweller before bedtime.
It was good to see that everyone could be in one place without squabbling but it was not good to have lost a chicken.
No sign of her today either.
Tonight, at dusk, I was in the kitchen, and Buck came to the door. This was new. He looked at me as though he hoped he could get me to have a clue.
I thought maybe he was lobbying for snacks but when I came out with lettuce, he was heading for the chicken house, calling his hens to follow.
I know it's anthropomorphic to think he was telling me that they were about to roost, and would I please come and close the door properly or make sure they could get into the coop, but being anthropomorphic has never bothered me before.
What should bother me is the feeling that I'm being managed by a chicken.
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Glad to hear from you, but criticisms will be ignored. It's the beauty of the web. I will answer all friendly remarks. Buck handles the rest.