Just too much drama for one day
There has been a lot happening.
First of all there was an upset in the Chicken Palace.
In the evening there is a way of doing things at the Palace that everyone agrees to. First the big ladies walk up the ladder, along the branch and settle at the end looking out of the window. The order in which they go to bed varies, but it is always orderly and determined by who decides to go up to bed first. They have given up getting past each other to the prime spot at the end, so once they are heading up the ladder their position on the big branch is set for the night.
Then, once they are settled in, the little ones dare to fly up to the branch and launch themselves to the top of the window and roost there.
Peace and harmony.
Imagine the consternation all around when this orderly process was met with this situation.
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I just happened to be there working on a bit of the coop. Everyone (including me) froze. Total shock. The proper order of things has been turned on its head! Palace protocol has been broken. Civilization may come to and end.
This is how it played out.
The rising panic you can hear from the babies peeping cracks me up. In the end, justice was delivered swiftly but with mercy. Order was restored and half an hour later the babies were in bed at the top of the window as is right and proper (and for me a pain because they poop on the window sill).
Meanwhile, my own drama was playing out. The noise you hear in the background is my little generator that keeps essentials going during a black out and at this point I was into the 5th day without power.
The electric company came and sealed off my drive with electric hazard tape and then left, with me incarcerated in my home. After multiple calls to the electric company's phone-answering robot I called our local police station to ask if they had any advice (I thought maybe they would have a way of getting a live person at the electric company). God bless the officer I spoke to because he got really upset that I had been sealed in and while on patrol he stopped one of the electric crews and insisted they prioritize releasing me safely.
The crew came and showed me how the downed wire had retained its charge and punched a big whole in the ground and turned the surrounding soil into glass. Very cool but very scary!
So I broke out the dog crates, put Teff hay in there, dusted them down and put them in the garage (which is dry and wind-proof). I went and got the girls one by one (they were saturated!) I toweled them all down as best I could (I couldn’t access a powerpoint to blow-dry them), popped Lucy and Charlie in thè smaller crate and the Faverolles in the bigger one. I gave them some food and said goodnight to them. I don’t want them catching pneumonia!
... I mean, that’s what they sell for you to use for your chickens!
❤
