My Rooster gave a hen directions on how to get over the fence!

[John Henry Jr]

A Kodak Moment, LOST! One of my hens, roaming freely around our yard, decided that the grass was greener on the other side of the 200 foot chain link fence, and flew her behind over it!
After chasing her for nearly three quarters of an hour, I finally gave up, planning to try again later as she went along the bottom of the fence trying to get back onto our side! I went back to building a chicken coop for my eight chickens that I recently bought. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Ol' John Henry Jr walking towards the displaced hen. They stood face to face at the fence, as he clucked incessantly. Then I watched In total amazement as the Rooster turned and walked about fifteen feet away from the fence, turned and watched the hen turn away from the fence, walk about fifteen feet and fly over the fence!
I am totally convinced that John Henry Jr came to her rescue and advised her in cluck cluck language how to get over the fence! It was most interesting to notice that when she turned from the fence that she walked almost exactly the same distance away as John Henry Jr. did. It was almost as though he was saying, "Get about as far from the fence as I'm standing and fly!" Once she flew over the fence he simply turned and walked away.....job done! If I didn't see it with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it. I never thought to grab my Android and video the event until it was too late.
My wife, Ann, grew up on a dairy farm, so to her this was nothing spectacular. This is the first year of my 67 years that I've been around any animals at all except for the ones that I bumped elbows with on a daily basis. I feel more endearment to these chickens than I do with most others I meet. They're certainly more interesting to observe!
Since we are supposed to be a more intelligent species then the animals around us I wish that we could learn and practice some of their ways. As I was installing fence in my back yard to keep my chickens in my yard I cut away much of the thicket and briars from my yard. My back-door neighbor came riding up to me on his golf cart and began to accuse me (in unpleasant arrogance) of cutting away vegetation on his boundary. I walked to my workshop and brought out a 300 foot ball of orange string and tied it to both of my survey posts. I was cleaning up debris more than three feet away from his land. My chickens seem to get along very nicely amongst themselves with an occasional spat which lasts for about three seconds and it's over.

 

[outlander]

That's pretty cool.

Nothing beats a good flockmaster! Well done, John Henry Jr

 

[Deerfield Acres]

So, I have to share an experience I had with the neighbor's horse.

Our area is a subdivision with 5 acre lots. The neighbors across the road from us owned a horse. At the time we had a very cranky trash collector, since replaced, who tended to leave a mess every time he collected. One day it was particularly bad with trash strewn about and across the road into the neighbors ditch. A plastic bag had made it right into the horse's enclosure and just out of reach.

I collected all the stuff I could reach and then walked to the fence and gazed at the plastic bag to get an idea of how big a stick I would need to fish it out. I looked at the horse, standing about 50' away and thought "If only I could ask him to kick that thing over just a bit.", eyeballed the bag one last time before turning to go find a stick of an appropriate length. However, I glance back at the horse after hearing it whinny (sp?). That horse had picked up the plastic bag and was calling me to come get it. He was holding it over the fence! I walked back and took the bag from him, thanked him very nicely and disposed of the bag.

Since then, I've thought animals might just have a lot more going on in their heads than we realize. What a clever horse. I told the owners and they said they weren't surprised. He had always been a rather amazing fellow.

 

[John Henry Jr]

That was a really nice and very appropriate reply and I enjoyed the read! Sometimes I wonder if us Humans aren't just arrogant enough to think that other life forms around us aren't communicating in one way or the other. We smile at occasions such as we described, because animals communicating, to us, is a jolt of surprise, no? And true, it is! But on the other hand, sometimes I just wonder what they're thinking about us! Our behavior! (Who's the JACKASS?) LOL But that reminds me of the pack of horses behind our back yard, there's one donkey, a very small critter with a bigger-than-life attitude! That midget RULES THE ROOST! I watched in utter amazement last week as he chased a red fox out of the pasture and was gaining on him! I've never seen a fox with its tail between his legs, but this was close! I also watch him (her?) (I haven't gotten close enough to see!) cuddle up to the horses while laying in the shade. They also have geese and ducks and an enormous Peacock! At night time the Peacock sounds like a woman screeching in horror! I'll never forget the first time I heard it. It's just too bad that the property owner is such a droop. The land I own as well as the whole neighborhood AND the pastureland behind us was, during the mid 19th century, Slave Plantation where they grew rice. But this is all about the animals so I'll stop.
It's always so nice to hear about when our worlds collide with the creatures we live with. That always shows me that there IS something bigger out there than the hum drum daily routine we all get so caught up in, Thanx!

 

[aart]

Great stories!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

Thanks! I just wish we had videos of both episodes. I could love watching that!

John Henry Jr, we've had neighbors like yours. So unpleasant and for what? It's incomprehensible to me. Currently our worst problem is with neighbor dogs who want to visit with me while I'm in the garden. I don't mind since I have the electric fence for the birds to keep out the coyotes and foxes. My house dogs mind when the neighbor dog visits but there you go. Can't please everyone!

 

[MagicPidge]

Aww, this thread makes me wish I had roosters again.

Mine weren't as successful at guiding 'their' hens though. One time it started to storm, and the roosters bolted up into the coop to escape. All the hens (silkies at this point) stayed at the bottom of the garden, all huddled together. Eventually the roosters came back out of the shelter and stayed with the hens in the rain... Weird chickens, eh.

 

[John Henry Jr]

You're absolutely correct Deerfield, Animals are just that, animals and roam wherever their nose and/or instincts lead them, and they quickly spot a friendly animal lover! It's just a sixth sense with them to intuitively draw near people with a kind heart for animals. It's the OWNERS of these pets who lack the sensitivity and consideration to let them forage the neighborhood. I call that IRRESPONSIBLE, SHALLOW AND THOUGHTLESS. I'm sorry but that's the way I feel. For example, one day, soon after acquiring my nest of chickens and immediately built a sixteen foot, six foot high enclosure. A female boxer-pit bull, skinny to the ribs, invited herself into my yard. She was shy and very aloof. As I calmly and slowly moved towards her, slightly crouching down to her level, she timidly started walking towards me with caution. Long story short, after feeding her some hot dogs and luncheon meet and water she seemed, as anybody would, relaxed and unthreatened. The problem began as soon as she spotted my chickens. As her thousands of years of heritage sprung up she began to wildly encircle the chicken pen, sending its inhabitants into a horror production. My attempts to intervene were futile and I quickly wore out! A brain fart sent me into the house to get some hamburger meat from the night before and I quickly introduced it to her sniffer! As she gave in to temptation I gently but quickly put a leash that I had hanging on my shed, around her neck and led her away to safe haven. I called Animal Control for assistance on their emergency number and fortunately got quick response and a friendly understanding officer to immediately dispatch help. As the A C officer arrived and placed the pet into the truck, a new neighbor up the street recognized her dog as it was being hauled away and began cursing and threatening and accusing me of being a thoughtless and heartless such and such. I had seen neither her NOR her dog before.! She had kept the dog tied up in her back yard behind a fence. It was undernourished and obviously very neglected. As I considered what this issue was all about my emotional stance went from Defensive to Offensive in nano seconds. I think that I could write a book at this point if I haven't attempted already!! Her arrogance and ignorance far outweighed common sense, compassion and a sense of responsibility. In short terms; some people shouldn't HAVE animals or any other living thing at their disposal! I strongly believe that those who abuse and neglect an animal will do the same with humans. Please excuse me for being a bit overstated here Deerfield but the owners of those dogs should always know where their pets are but unfortunately they seem not to give it a second thought. Out of sight, out of mind. I have a recent chicken story that goes along the same route but I'll save it for another time, I've worn this one out!

 

[Deerfield Acres]

That just tops it, doesn't it? The poor dog.

Both of the neighbor dogs who come to visit here are just neglected time-wise, as in owner's never home and the dogs are just plain lonely. The one is such a beauty and would make herself right at home, if we let her. I feel really badly for the poor beasts but it is quite a nuisance when I'm trying to plant garden with the big lug stomping on everything and trying to get me to play. If our dogs make a get away, we immediately go retrieve them, they aren't left to roam unattended and it is rude for them to expect me to babysit their poor doggy. The other dog is penned in a kennel all day until owner's get home and then let to run wild all evening. It has come into our yard after our own dogs on occasion, who had our children on the ends of their leashes! That really is irksome, not to mention unsafe. This is a great big Weimeraner vs. our little Maltese. It could easily clear my poultry netting but it checked the fence with its nose first so isn't likely to even consider it now.

Speaking of animals knowing where to go when they need people, I'll have to tell you about Oliver, as in Twist, the cat, one of these days. After you tell your chicken story.

Animals are fascinating. Happily, I've known some of the human variety that have been as quietly extraordinary as some are loudly obnoxious.

 

[John Henry Jr]

As a Novist in Chickenology 101 a daily part of my life has become full of new surprises, amazement and bewilderment at the same time! This wonderful experience is all new to me and it seems that each day has a unique surprise of its own! My whole entire lifetime must have been hidden under a mushroom somewhere because since I've acquired this very sophisticated society of yard birds the "Aha! Moments" have been popping up everywhere! The first little family consisted of John Henry, the pompous Royalty of the Roost and four lovely Rhode Island Red (I was told) hens. They have been such low maintenance guests who have so generously given us four to six jumbo size delicious eggs for nearly a year now. But! The Plot thickens! After noticing that the hens' feathers were quickly disappearing I was told by those, "Who know about these things" that John Henry's concubines were too few in number! More fresh hens would reduce the Telly Savalis look alike contest that these four hens were experiencing! So onward and upward I go as I went to a member of my church who claimed that so many chickadees were being born that he didn't know just what, exactly, to do with them all! They were all his beloved little family! "I really hate to get rid of any of them" he stated. So after church one Sunday morning in the parking lot I informed him that I was in need of at least eight more hens! He told me that he would be more than happy to oblige and invited me to his home over in the next county. Being, as I earlier stated, a novist I had no idea about what chickens were, "going for". As I arrived at his home and pulled up closer to his chicken coop the first thing that undividedly caught my attention was the ghastly stench coming from the coop. Having little experience to draw from I tried to be open minded. But as, " Brother Sydney" opened the gates of hell chicken coop door my senses were driven to spin cycle as my eyes and nose literally burned with the stench of filth before me as I gazed in astonishment at the condition that these poor critters were subjected to. I would estimate the coop to be approximately 10 X 10 feet square with no perch but just boxes where some mother hens were sitting all around the place but the most staggering sight to behold was the floor that the rest of the chickens wallowed in. If it wasn't twelve inches of manure it wasn't an inch! As my physical senses were stifled my emotional senses were in panic, looking for something stable to affix themselves to because I was standing in the very middle of CHICKEN HELL! I looked at, "Brother Sydney" with my mouth wide open; not in amazement but in terror. These poor creatures had never seen the light of day since they were born, only during brief moments when feed was hastily dropped into a corner vessel. It was hard to distinguish whether the vessel was a feeding dish or a toilet. We won't EVEN mention the water. We won't go there. Those chickens had never in their lifetime been outside their coop. Their feathers made them blend in with their environment like perfect camouflage. B y this time my eyes and nose were running liquids. I had to get out of there, QUICKLY! I was more than convinced that I wanted nothing to do with those chickens. Then suddenly a thought hit me and I asked him how much he wanted for eight hens. His reply was more astonishing than what I had already experienced when he exclaimed, "Fifteen Dollars Each! I've had to feed and take care of them since birth". I felt curse words forming on my tongue but to my further astonishment I held them back somehow. I stepped back and just looked at him for a moment and replied, "Most hens at this age go for around six dollars or so, average! Anywhere in town! "That's my price, take it or leave it", was his reply. I reached for my wallet and counted out $120 and handed it to him. It wasn't because I felt these chickens were worth it by any means, I was clearly getting Hoo-Dooed. It was more like a sense of resolve with indignation. As we loaded them into my truck I nearly gagged when I touched them and smelled the filth that had accumulated on their skinny bodies. As I drove off I was fighting a terrible sense of hatred towards, "Brother Sydney".Words can't EVEN describe my feelings towards him at that moment. Then suddenly another sense engulfed me! Those eight chickens were, for the first time in their entire life since they picked their way out of the shell and into that underworld, were FREE. As I drove down the highway heading for home a smile came over my face. It wasn't that I was a rich man and could easily afford that price because I'm not. My greatest satisfaction took place when I unloaded them into the sixteen foot square pen that I had built, with fresh nutritious food and plenty of clean water and SUNSHINE and DIRT to bathe in, and a HUGE YARD to go freely and find worms and grubs and other insects to scratch in and eat and be F R E E A T L A S T ! It was just like the Emancipation Proclamation all over again! I watched and smiled as all eight of them huddled together in the corner of the pen and dug into the dirt and bathed together for the first time in their life! They were like a school of fish running about together around the pen with their chickadee tweeting sounds. I open the gates at certain times during the day to let them out and scurry around the yard. They often heads lickedy split towards the bird feeder where they can find some sunflower seeds they seem so fond of. But these new chicks stayed behind huddling and running to and fro in the pen for the time being. It would actually take about two weeks before they ventured out to run freely with the others. Now they come out regularly and mingle and play and fly about, chasing one another in chickadee fashion. Their feathers are clean and shiny now. And John Henry Jr's watchful eye won't let a single one of them escape as he assumes his role of "King of King an Lord of Lords, Hallelujah" watching over the safety of his little flock. If any dissention or quarreling breaks out amongst the ladies, he quickly runs over, asserts his male authority, settles the matter and walks away. I can't help myself, I'm just in love!