A chicken tale

[macmex]

Our son, daughter-in-law and GRANDDAUGHTER visited us back in the middle of March. Our granddaughter is going on 5 and totally enamored with our farm, especially "baby animals." For months ahead I planned, hoping to have both "baby bunnies" and newborn chicks on hand during their brief visit. Alas, the rabbits did not cooperate. As their arrival date came up, that much was quite clear: no baby bunnies on this visit.

The day of their arrival was fast approaching and my wife began to fret about chicks. "Are you sure you got things right? They'll hatch so she can have "baby chicks" to play with?" she asked (several times). Now, of course, having experienced some cognitive issues in the last few years, I've learned that it's not always good to affirm something like that by saying, "Of course they'll hatch on time!" I've found new ways to mess these things up. However, I did tell her that since or family was supposed to arrive on March 13th and leave on the morning of the 15th, I timed things so that the chicks would hatch on the 13th.

Come the evening of 11th (Saturday evening), Jerreth was worried. She commented that she didn't hear any peeping in the incubator, which is problematic for me. I'm hard of hearing. I almost never hear peeping in the incubator until I open it to remove chicks. 

Jerreth went shopping for last minute supplies... and returned with a dozen white Leghorn pullets from Tractor Supply! What happened when Jerreth had gone into Tractor Supply, was she noticed that this dozen pullets, now starting to grow feathers, were the last of an entire shipment. They were cleaning up the cages, preparing for the next shipment, which... would arrive after our family had left. So, she bought them, as "insurance." A grandma will do some amazing things to please a grandchild!

Of course, our Buckeye chicks began hatching on the 12th and we removed them from the incubator... right after our family arrived on the 13th. Our granddaughter was over the moon happy to help! She did, however, enjoy the white Leghorns, which were quite a bit larger (sturdier). 


Two days later our loved ones left and we found ourselves holding onto a dozen pullets of a breed we didn't really care to raise. Our daughter, who lives on the property, found a home for four of them and we still had 8. I put them on Craigslist, at a bargain price... not a nibble. I strongly suspect that most homesteader types don't want white birds. Neither do they prefer birds that lay white eggs, though the egg color is irrelevant to flavor or nutrition. My personal experience, back in the 80s and 90s, with Leghorns was that they were productive but quite flighty. They're non broody, so won't set on their own eggs. I had seen a cannibalistic streak in them too. So I was not thrilled with these birds.

And they grew quickly...

March 20

By early this week they no longer fit in their brooder and only the very top of their heads lacked real feathers. They are growing at an amazing rate. I had to set them up outside. So, while being in a hurry, as the sun set, one evening, I carried them out and released them into an old chain link kennel with a dog house in it. I set it up with food and water, thinking they'd do well there. Once I released the last one into the kennel I watched as they walked through the chain link and out into the pasture, beyond! After a breathless chase I caught them and put them back in the brooder, or so I thought. 

The next morning, doing chores by flashlight, our cat ran by, chasing a White Leghorn pullet! She ran under a trailer and I thought, "I DON'T HAVE TIME to deal with this. I'll be late for work. Well, little pullet, it was nice knowing you." I left her and went to work. That evening I discovered that the cat didn't hurt her. All the dogs ignored her, as they saw her as simply a chicken, and, she was happily eating with the adult Buckeyes, who ignored her. I thought, "Bingo! I can just let them loose with their sister. They'll be alright!" So I did that.

Of course, that night a cold front blew in and we had scattered, heavy thundershowers as I went out with my headlamp, to do chores the following morning. I came upon all eight pullets, huddled and shivering by the side of an outbuilding, so, despite my hurry, I gently ferried them back to the kennel, where their food and water was still set up. I placed them inside the dog house. I was surprised that they just seemed to know me and made absolutely no fuss about being caught and put up! Jerreth went out side after sunrise and reported that they were all in the kennel, happily having their breakfast.


I came home from work that afternoon and found that they had let themselves out again, and were catching bugs in the lawn, but... when the sun set, they went back to their dog house. So, I refilled their vittles and happily left them be.

I'm enjoying these little birds. This won't stop me from either finding them a new home, or, at the end of summer, eating them. I will only maintain one breed of chicken at a time and have no intention of starting another flock. Yet, I thought I'd mention this anecdote here. I'm impressed that this particular strain of Leghorn is apparently more calm than the strains I had previously experienced. It also warms my heart how they recognized that I wanted to help them and so quickly adapted to their new circumstances. Chickens are amazing creatures!

I bet some of you have similar tales to tell.






  

[chrysanthemum]

That was a great story, macmex, and a beautiful picture of your granddaughter. Thanks for sharing.

[FrostyTurnip]

I saw the title and yelled, “Yasss!” The kids looked at me strange.  I giggled at Jerreth’s very first question.  I knew it was coming.  Slapped my chair laughing.

My girls give me a signal, because I guess I pay attention.  LIke, one hen really prefers to lay her egg in the coop.  They all started out with me in the tractor beneath the 1/4” wire, so that’s where they go to signal me. I open one end of the tractor and attach it to the run which is also attached to the pallet compost bin, making for more room for them.  This hen will run into the tractor and then start pacing back and forth along the length of the tractor with her beak gently pressed into the wire making a scraping noise.  I walk over, she runs quickly before the other hens catch on and I open the door.  She pops out, runs immediately to the coop and I shut the door on the coop and return her after she’s laid her egg.  

If the flock ever runs out of water or feed, they all behave this way inside the tractor portion of the run scraping their beaks across the wire.  They’re like using their entire bodies to make a wave at me and make a familiar sound.  It means they need something really badly.  They all stand around and wait to jump into action when I might open the back door.  I frequently look out at them, so they never go without.  Backyard chickens are super fun this way.

[heavyhitterokra]

It always amazes me when animals seem to 'know' when you're trying to help them, even if they're wild. Last year, I saw a full-grown cardinal lying in the middle of the highway, as vehicle after vehicle passed over it doing 65 mph. It was clearly not dead; it would flap its wings every time it got rolled by the wind.

Because of the way it was acting, I figured it had been mortally injured or else it would surely get up and fly away. So, for that reason, I had only planned to catch it to dispatch it.  It took me several attempts to reach the spot where it was lying because of heavy traffic, but when I finally got close enough to pick it up, the bird made no attempt to fly away and made no attempt to bite me.

When I picked it up, it looked too bright-eyed to be as near death as I thought it was, so I carried it back to the truck, rather than twisting its head off as I had first planned.  Within minutes, I could see that it was going to be okay, so I pulled over and got it some water and wrapped it in an old shirt to rest up.  Then, I drove back home with it snuggled up in the shirt beside me.

When I got home, I opened the shirt and let the bird fly away. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with it.  I suppose it had just been scared stiff after that first vehicle had passed over it. 

It didn't leave right away when I turned it loose, it seemed to be hanging around to let me know it appreciated the effort  I had put into saving it.

Later, I saw it in the garden, just a few yards away from where I was working. All the other birds flew away as I got closer, all except for that one, it just seemed to be hanging around because it liked people. (Probably because I had relocated it and it had no idea where to fly), but I liked to think it was just being friendly. I put some cracked corn out there in a feeder for it, and after that I would see that little bird there every day for about three days in a row before it finally disappeared.

We've had several encounters like that over the years, with creatures ranging from baby deer, to a a wild goose that had been shot by a hunter, to an owl that was hit by a car, to a wild goose that was tangled in a hog wire fence, to a roadrunner that had been hit by a car. They just always seem to know when you're trying to help them.

[macmex]

Years ago, when our kids were small and we were up, visiting from Mexico for a year, we lived along a busy road. One day the kids found a house sparrow which had been clipped by the antenna on a passing car. The impact took off the end of one wing. However, when they brought it to the house it was clear that it wasn't badly hurt otherwise. It seemed to look the them for help. So... they got an old bird cage for it and kept it until we had to return to Mexico. Leaving it with an animal rescue enthusiast when we couldn't keep it any more. That was the friendliest bird, and to think it was born wild.

[amyinowasso]

I'm chuckling here. Our friend Dawn used to feed...pretty much all wildlife. Someone one day said they pictured her as a Disney princess with birds and deer following her around. Heavyhitter, you just became a Disney prince.