It might just be me, but sometimes chickens are the funniest creatures...
I was out cleaning the coop this weekend, changing the straw and pine shavings in the nesting boxes. I have been experimenting with pans in the nesting boxes to contain the mess and make it a little easier to clean them. The first 2 nesting boxes have small cat litter pans, kind of expensive at $6 a pop, but they are antibacterial. The other 8 boxes have aluminum Lasagna pans. I pinned the pans down with a thumb tack to keep them from moving around, which worked great on the aluminum pans, but apparently not so much with the plastic ones. As I was sweeping the shavings and straw from the coop floor 3 or 4 of the hens were looking to get into a nesting box. While I was sweeping I heard a 'thunk' - BAUCK! I looked at the 2nd nesting box and saw a hen standing on the end of one of the plastic pans, the bottom of the pan was near vertical. It was as if she had a 'quizzical' look about her, almost like she was trying to comprehend what had just happened. She hopped out of the box and paced back and forth in front of the other nesting boxes. I went back to sweeping. Seconds later another 'thunk' - BAUCK! Same hen, same box, same quizzical look. That's when I realized what the 'thunk' was... The upending plastic box hitting her beak. She hopped out of the box and paced in front of the other boxes. Intrigued, I watched, and sure enough, right back into the same box, onto the edge of the plastic pan, which immediately flipped up and 'thunk-ed' her beak, at the same time she squawked BAUCK! Now I'm laughing. Out of the box she hops, paces back and forth a couple time, jumps right back into the same box and 'thunk' - BAUCK! I'm laughing hysterically now, as out she hops out, paces back and forth, jumps right back in and 'thunk' - BAUCK! Now, I'm laughing so hard I have tears streaming down my face... A quick trip to get my screw gun and a small screw which prevented the box from flipping up, and shortly I was rewarded with a nice brown egg.
Perhaps I lack the necessary word smithing skill required to paint the picture of my memory. But I'll not soon forget the sound of 'thunk' - BAUCK! - and the look of bewilderment (at least in my mind) of that hen. I hope all the animals that I may have on my farm bring me as much joy as these humble creatures.
Matt
I was out cleaning the coop this weekend, changing the straw and pine shavings in the nesting boxes. I have been experimenting with pans in the nesting boxes to contain the mess and make it a little easier to clean them. The first 2 nesting boxes have small cat litter pans, kind of expensive at $6 a pop, but they are antibacterial. The other 8 boxes have aluminum Lasagna pans. I pinned the pans down with a thumb tack to keep them from moving around, which worked great on the aluminum pans, but apparently not so much with the plastic ones. As I was sweeping the shavings and straw from the coop floor 3 or 4 of the hens were looking to get into a nesting box. While I was sweeping I heard a 'thunk' - BAUCK! I looked at the 2nd nesting box and saw a hen standing on the end of one of the plastic pans, the bottom of the pan was near vertical. It was as if she had a 'quizzical' look about her, almost like she was trying to comprehend what had just happened. She hopped out of the box and paced back and forth in front of the other nesting boxes. I went back to sweeping. Seconds later another 'thunk' - BAUCK! Same hen, same box, same quizzical look. That's when I realized what the 'thunk' was... The upending plastic box hitting her beak. She hopped out of the box and paced in front of the other boxes. Intrigued, I watched, and sure enough, right back into the same box, onto the edge of the plastic pan, which immediately flipped up and 'thunk-ed' her beak, at the same time she squawked BAUCK! Now I'm laughing. Out of the box she hops, paces back and forth a couple time, jumps right back into the same box and 'thunk' - BAUCK! I'm laughing hysterically now, as out she hops out, paces back and forth, jumps right back in and 'thunk' - BAUCK! Now, I'm laughing so hard I have tears streaming down my face... A quick trip to get my screw gun and a small screw which prevented the box from flipping up, and shortly I was rewarded with a nice brown egg.
Perhaps I lack the necessary word smithing skill required to paint the picture of my memory. But I'll not soon forget the sound of 'thunk' - BAUCK! - and the look of bewilderment (at least in my mind) of that hen. I hope all the animals that I may have on my farm bring me as much joy as these humble creatures.
Matt
