I Have Lost Control

They are like feral animals right now. I could not catch one of them if my life depends on it. Maybe I have just become too cautious. I coaxed Lilly into the big run. I did not think to close the big door. I figured I could just scoop her up.

Nope

That one legged hen was quicker than me. I reached for her and she took off out the big door. I did not want to chase her to make her run on the bad leg so away she went. It can't be that bad as she was using it to get away from the terrible human.

So now I am soaked to the skin for no reason.

I really must have done something to Sydney. I could not get her out into the big run. She is terrified of me. ☹

I'm going to go work on my car tonight. At least it can't run away from me..............Hopefully..............
 
Just you wait... lol!

it won’t be as bad as the “stuff them under the deck coop” you rescued your girls from, I promise, but I basically just dragged an eyesore out from the forest edge and planted it front and center near the driveway! Between my island friend who has three trailers for his birds, my abode, and now this temporary housing I’m thinking I should change my business name from “Kristen’s Pastured Poultry” to “Kristen and Wayne’s Trailer Park Chickens”:lau
Trailer Park Chickens. Love it!
 
Lilly is Hurt Again

The rain let up and my adventuresome hens sprinted over to the deck to beg some snacks. I quickly responded and Sansa, Aurora, Sydney, and Phyllis started to enjoy some meal worms. I assumed that Hattie and Lilly were just being scaredie cats so I called them. Hattie came a running and flapping. No response from Lilly. I called again and Lilly emerged from the coop limping.

I ran to get my coat and by the time I had my coat, she was at the porch. Here she is taking a couple of steps.


I put some meal worms under the table for her and went back to finish my slice of pizza for lunch. I told Mrs BY Bob about it and that I would bring her in for a check up once I had eaten my pizza. Before I was done eating it started to pour again and the flock returned to the coop, including Lilly. She is under the coop right now and I am not going to force her out to check her leg. I will just wait until later and I will coax her out into the run. I hope I don't need to crate her up for a couple of days but it looks like it is really bothering her. 😕
Poor Lilly. Maybe she sprained it jumping down - or could she have hurt her foot?
 
I Have Lost Control

They are like feral animals right now. I could not catch one of them if my life depends on it. Maybe I have just become too cautious. I coaxed Lilly into the big run. I did not think to close the big door. I figured I could just scoop her up.

Nope

That one legged hen was quicker than me. I reached for her and she took off out the big door. I did not want to chase her to make her run on the bad leg so away she went. It can't be that bad as she was using it to get away from the terrible human.

So now I am soaked to the skin for no reason.

I really must have done something to Sydney. I could not get her out into the big run. She is terrified of me. ☹

I'm going to go work on my car tonight. At least it can't run away from me..............Hopefully..............
Well in good news if she can run she hasn't broken her leg and probably hasn't dislocated it either!
 
Well Behaved Ladies

If you have had children, you know that there are those times when you just can't stand them anymore. You've had enough. I reached that point with the flock last night. I was actually debating whether to give them all away and start over or close up the whole chicken operation and permanently shut down Fluffy Butt Acres.

Aurora started on Sydney last night, then she went to Phyllis. I'm not going to go into all the details. First I tried to scoop up Phyllis and put her on the new roost. She did not want to be scooped up, I didn't get her just right and flapping and squawking ensued and I let go. I then tried to get my hands on Aurora to try and put a stop to it and the slippery little thing was just too quick for me. I started to get frustrated, realized that, and gave up. Phyllis roosted in the run, so I figured to wait until dark to move her, then somehow she was on the roost in the run. Then when it was almost picture black out, Mrs BY Bob sees her on the porch. Why was she on the porch! Then she was standing in the coop door. I couldn't have that. I'm sure she would move when the door started down but then I wasn't sure. So I shooed her into the coop and manually closed the door. I didn't care where she slept, she was in the coop.

When I checked later, what did I find? Phyllis on the roost in her usual spot. How did she do that in the dark?!

So I sat and stewed last night. I thought about which hens I still had a relationship with of sorts. It was a short list.

Lilly remains ever Lilly. Mysterious, a hen to be appreciated from afar. Unlike Patsy who was someday going to jump in my lap, if we only had more time, that was a one time deal with Lilly. She doesn't even squat for me anymore.

Hattie is back to avoiding me. I can't get close to her anymore.

Aurora will take food from me but outside of picking her off of a roost, I don't think I will ever touch her again.

Sydney is now treating me like I have the plague. She won't even eat from my hand anymore. I have no idea what I did there.

I just tortured Phyllis trying to scoop her up. I was sure she would avoid me after that.

So that left Sansa. God Bless Sansa. She is the only hen that squats for me. She pecks my leg and talks to me. She has jumped in my lap. Not in a long time but she has. Look, she just came to see me as I was writing this.
View attachment 2406316

Then I read about Mhari and I thought, why am I doing this? Why all the work. When they are going to ignore me, behave badly, and then drop dead.

I was in a bleak mood.

So I woke up this morning and thought, I am not going to worry about the roosting any more. They can do what they want. Went out at 7:30, released them to free range, fed them and said "Have a good day Ladies" and went back into the house to have coffee and breakfast without them.

What i did not realize is that I left the side gate open last night. The perimeter fence was wide open by the apple trees. That is where they ran when I opened the coop. The apple trees. They love it there right now. But I, forgetting the gate was open, thought nothing of it.

About 9:30, it was beautiful outside. So I went out, but I did not go to the magnolia tree, where I would have seen the open gate, I went to the patio where the sun was shining.

I sat down on the patio and no one came to see me, not even to get food. About 10 minutes later, I heard a chicken on the deck behind me. I did not turn to look. A few minutes later this face popped up on the end table next to me.
View attachment 2406382

We visited for quite a while and then she left. That was a positive, she wasn't angry with me. About 15 minutes later, Sansa showed up. She was looking for food and I gave some to her. Maybe 5 minutes later, everyone showed up. We had a nice visit and they settled down under the Rose of Sharon bush.

I still had not realized that the gate was open.

Mrs BY Bob it's at work today and I needed to run something to her. So I left them under the Rose of Sharon and headed out to run stuff to her.

I was gone over an hour.

When I returned I finally saw the open gate.
View attachment 2406432

Well, no chickens in the side yard, maybe they are long gone. I entered by the gate and closed it. No chickens to be seen anywhere.

There was one chance, maybe they had not left the Rose of Sharon bush. I walked over and there they were, all 6, together, no fighting.

My good girls had stayed in the yard and nothing bad had happened. In fact, much like children who know when they have pushed it too far. They have been little angels all day.

I suppose I will keep them a while longer.
@BY Bob Your stories have a nice pace and you write them honestly, with your own "voice". Really great to read! I love these pictures too. Sansa inquisitively looking you over, and Phyllis popping up. The way she suddenly appeared on my screen was perfect as I scrolled to read - Hey, there's Phyllis, her wonderful head with the spray of feathers looking right at me, just as it happened to you! Scrolling a bit further revealed you ARE indeed a Chicken Fashion Photographer, as there's a nice picture of Phyllis, in a bold confrontational stance, as if saying, "Hey Rooster BY BOB, what gives? Are you okay today"?

Your chickens might sense you're feeling bad, feeling different than usual, that something is not right. Why wouldn't they? They are highly attuned to each other, the body language, voice, everything. Why not to you also? My Buckeyes gauge and react to my every move. They can spot a gnat from several feet away. A slight change in our expression or the way we hold our body should be easy!

I am a chicken newbie, but we have had a long string of cats in this house, strays of all sorts and cats raised from kittens, and a grand old Golden Retriever dog too, so my stance generally is: we do what we can for the animals we care for, and we try to keep them out of harm's way, for their own good, but for ours too. Yes, I know Calvin Kitty wanted to go out late at night and get into all sorts of fun mischief, but who was gonna take him into town and spend the day with him at the vets because he got his little kitty butt kicked by some brawny stray he wasn't counting on meeting? Who's gonna be cleaning that abscessed wound? (Well he could help with that part!)

This is why for me, this beginning time with chickens, feels fraught with danger, as I do feel an obligation to at least get the basics right for them, to get them started in a reasonably safe and favorable environment. Not put them in a cartwheeling run!

All we can do is try to provide a good basic environment for them to do their natural thing in. But we do have to co-exist, so our human needs get taken into consideration too. I thought your ideas about modifications to your coop or the living arrangements, temporary or otherwise, were very reasonable to *consider*. But, yes, there's a point where we can't really control what they do despite our efforts, and there is a limit to our efforts that we each must decide on, and then accept. After that, that's just the way it is. The situation may last for a time, or may and likely will change soon enough.

Maybe you, Rooster BY BOB, have already changed the dynamics a little, because the extreme coop shenanigans finally, really and truly upset you. Maybe your chicken community noticed. :hugs
 
Phyllis on the High Wire

I guess I just can't scare her off. 🥰 Phyllis was back to visit me as I sat outside in between rain showers for about 10 minutes. 🙄

This time she reprised her high wire act in front of the Rose of Sharon bush.

Yesterday I entered Aurora in the fall photo contest. Today I thought I would enter one or two of Phyllis. Which does everyone like best?

1View attachment 2407462

2
View attachment 2407463

3
View attachment 2407464
#2, she looks quite coy there, and I like the lines with the bush behind her!
 
Maybe you, Rooster BY BOB, have already changed the dynamics a little, because the extreme coop shenanigans finally, really and truly upset you. Maybe your chicken community noticed. :hugs
Bit like the kids knowing when they've overstepped the mark. :gig
 
This young hen is responsible for all the mixed breeds here. Her name is Mini Minx. Mini Minx could pancake.
View attachment 2405379
She's dead now but not forgotton. The chicks were the first cross breeds. Beano, Dandy, Otic and Where. Where isn't in the picture. She got called Where because mum and the rest would move on and Where would suddenly notice she was alone and say "where did everyone go?"
View attachment 2405377
The title of this picture is "if you don't feed us something nice we'll get our dad."
It's the same three. Where, somewhere else as usual.
View attachment 2405378
Here's dad. His name is Major and I still can't write his life story. He was the first here that took food from my hand and is responsible for my chicken obssession.
View attachment 2405380
Thanks for the trip down your memory lane, Shad. I hope to hear Major’s story someday. I remember hearing about him somewhere.
 

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