MJ's little flock

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Just managed to get a self inflicted paper cut. Hope I'll be able to continue on here.
Funny how something so minor can hurt so much.

Paper cuts hurt out of all proportion! Kiss better. X

I once managed to cut myself on a breakfast cereal box. That was painful and embarrassing!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Inspired by @BY Bob, how I came to love chickens

My story is not as interestimg as his and I could sum it up in one sentence: "Dad kept leghorns in the backyard when we were kids" but there are some funny stories too so...

They didn't have names but that didn't stop me interacting with them. We got the chickens when I was 3 and they'd all passed by the time I was 8.

One of the characters in a book I'd read could hypnotise chickens, so one day I got one of mum's shiny necklaces and went outside to swing it in front of a chicken, saying "You are feeling sleeepy, very sleeeepy" until Dad came out and said, that's not going to work, love. Didn't stop me trying over and over. I'm pretty sure one of the chickens thought she was hypnotising me instead, and you know what? Maybe she was, maybe she was.

Another time, I discovered that if I poked a blade of grass through the wire of the coop, they'd eat it! Fun!! So that kept me amused for a year or so. They also liked it when I picked and opened almonds for them.

Another time Dad enlisted my brother and I in helping him catch the chickens so there wings could be clipped, which sounded horrific! But father must be obeyed unless he shouts, so we stood out there in the backyard, one kid on each end of an upside down laundry basket, waiting patiently while Dad herded the chickens between us so we could drop the basket and catch the chicken! Except I had other plans and was too slow on purpose, saying "sorry Dad, sorry." Next day, out at the coop, poking blades of grass through, tears in my eyes, saying, "Never you mind Chickens, you've still got your wings and I will protect you." Looking back on it now, I realise Dad's chicken entrapment scheme was doomed to fail from the get go. They were fast and flighty those leghorns, but even a slow mover will be quicker than a pair of anklebiters on a laundry basket.

So these chickeny shenanigans endeared them to me. These old memories are so special, it's no wonder I took about five minutes to decide on chickens once I had a backyard that was my own

Chicken love runs deep

So sweet! Moar pleez

 

[MaryJanet]

Oh thanks, @Aussie-Chookmum but that's all I've got.

I saw my aunty today after I'd shared those stories and I told her about the laundry basket. We got to reminiscing about the chickens. She remembered there was an old one who couldn't fly up to the roost so I took it upon myself to put her up every night for a couple of years. But I have no recollection of that at all.

I do however recall a duck called Daddles who couldn't fly but she needed no help defending herself from predators and certainly required no assistance at dusk. She frequently terrified the young person who came around to collect the milk money. We often had to rescue visitors who were cowering in a corner of the porch with a hissing Daddles at their feet. Funny how she didn't hiss at us. She must've realised we were her food supply.

When she was broody, look out. My brother had to toss her food in from a safe distance! She'd scoop up any pellets that landed within her reach but she never got up off those precious eggs.

We didn't have a pond, so we'd put her in the bath every now and then for a treat. She *loved* it. Boy oh boy, did we scrub that tub after Daddles...

 

[Shadrach]

Funny how she didn't hiss at us. She must've realised we were her food supply.

I think chickens and ducks are in this respect more like dogs with people. Usually the dog/s are fed by one person and that suggests that there is more to their acceptance of other humans and other animals in a household than food.
I view it as there is family and then there is the rest and while food plays a role it doesn't explain why different species tolerate other species in a domestic setting.

 

[MaryJanet]

Your account is more plausible I think.

 

[rjohns39]

Good evening MJ

ETA: I loved your stories

 

[MaryJanet]

Good morning Thank you, I enjoyed recalling those memories

 

[Grammy60]

Good evening MJ I love reading your stories Thank you for sharing

 

[MaryJanet]

Thank you @Grammy60

 

[LozzyR]

I had a ob-gyn who used to hug me & kiss my hand. I was quite a bit younger then(1983) and it really upset me. But, I decided(being stupid) that he probably did that to all the women.

When I was 40 he stopped it. I told my psychiatrist and he was very solemn and said
"40 is the cut off point." He was disturbed when I said he never had a nurse with him.

Eww, that’s just so wrong. And when you’re young and don’t have a big life frame of reference, it is very hard to deal with.