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Terrytay

Terrytay

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5 Years
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Oct 16, 2014
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Hi. My name is Terry and I'm another chicken lover and have 6 hens. They have all started to lay this last couple of weeks. I had something happen that totally blew me away. I was adding a front day room to their coop and putting the wire on. My birds love to hang around you to see what they are missing and I noticed that 5 of the chickens were on the other side of where I was adding the fence all looking and watching. Then I felt something go between my legs and rubbed on my leg. I looked down and it was one of my Araucannas and she was looking up at me like she wanted something. So I though maybe she was trying to find the others so I picked her up and took her to the others. I let her down and she followed me back to the front of the coop where I was working. So I figured she wanted to hang around and started hanging the wire again and again she went through my legs rubbing me and then would stand there looking at me. The thrid time she did it I noticed the coop door had closed. Oh crap.....bad me. I thought she wanted water. Nope! She wanted to lay her egg in the nest. I opened the door and she hauled into her nest and less then a minute was out and singing about it. Just amazing that that chicken knew how and persisted until she got what she wanted. They do things all the time that shows they think. This is my second time owning chickens. This time I have spent more time with them then the last in which I had a small ranch with horses, cows and pigs as well as chickens. I never paid that much attention to them before to see just how intelligent they are. I live in Bisbee Arizona in the high desert in the far corner of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico. Im retired at 60 and look forward to spending time with my critters.
 
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Terrytay said:
Hi. My name is Terry and I'm another chicken lover and have 6 hens. They have all started to lay this last couple of weeks. I had something happen that totally blew me away. I was adding a front day room to their coop and putting the wire on. My birds love to hang around you to see what they are missing and I noticed that 5 of the chickens were on the other side of where I was adding the fence all looking and watching. Then I felt something go between my legs and rubbed on my leg. I looked down and it was one of my Araucannas and she was looking up at me like she wanted something. So I though maybe she was trying to find the others so I picked her up and took her to the others. I let her down and she followed me back to the front of the coop where I was working. So I figured she wanted to hang around and started hanging the wire again and again she went through my legs rubbing me and then would stand there looking at me. The thrid time she did it I noticed the coop door had closed. Oh crap.....bad me. I thought she wanted water. Nope! She wanted to lay her egg in the nest. I opened the door and she hauled into her nest and less then a minute was out and singing about it. Just amazing that that chicken knew how and persisted until she got what she wanted. They do things all the time that shows they think. This is my second time owning chickens. This time I have spent more time with them then the last in which I had a small ranch with horses, cows and pigs as well as chickens. I never paid that much attention to them before to see just how intelligent they are. I live in Bisbee Arizona in the high desert in the far corner of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico. Im retired at 60 and look forward to spending time with my critters.
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So glad you joined us.

Chickens are smarter than most people I meet!
 
You got that right. I wasnt going to say this but the first time when I got chickens I did I real dumb thing. I seen one flopping around in a small hole in the pasture and walked out to it thinking it was having a seizure. So I reached down and snapped is neck and cleaned it and ate it. It wasnt until a week later I noticed another one doing it. So thats when I asked a neighbor about it and was told about their dusts baths. ...... That has always bothered me because I love animals and thought I was doing it right by not allowing the chicken to suffer. So yup! Chickens are smarter then we give them credit for.
 
Terrytay said:
You got that right. I wasnt going to say this but the first time when I got chickens I did I real dumb thing. I seen one flopping around in a small hole in the pasture and walked out to it thinking it was having a seizure. So I reached down and snapped is neck and cleaned it and ate it. It wasnt until a week later I noticed another one doing it. So thats when I asked a neighbor about it and was told about their dusts baths. ...... That has always bothered me because I love animals and thought I was doing it right by not allowing the chicken to suffer. So yup! Chickens are smarter then we give them credit for.
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That's a sad story.

On a lighter note, when my girls first were put out to their coop, every evening we had to pick each up and place them in the coop and next morning let them out. After a few days they caught on and went in at dusk on their own. After a week of doing so, one nite they would not go in. My DH went out and checked on them and they looked fine and decided to give them more time. After it got really dark they were still under the coop. I went out and found I had left the chicken door closed after cleaning the coop that day….and after that on every coop cleaning day, they stood in front of their closed door pecking it to remind me not to close it!
 
Hahaha...that was funny. Thats exactly what I mean. They are smart to what their needs are for sure. Mine stand in the rain but they like it and they really like to play around in the mud too. Some people think its stupid but they are chickens and thats what they like. Thanks for sharing that. Because all day yesterday I walked around thinking how chickens are a lot smarter then we give them credit for. I guess we all do that to some degree for the animals we eat. Makes it easier to eat if we think their dumb or stupid. Mine are for eggs. I did the meat birds before but a lot of work each time you wanted chicken. Besides I'm to soft anymore about all that. Like I said I lived on a ranch and raised all my meat but I swear it took a month in the freezer before I could eat them.
 
Welcome to BYC. Glad you decided to join our flock. Like you, I am retired (6 years now) and enjoying raising chickens (although I've been doing it for the past 50 years). Thanks for sharing the story of your Araucana. Chickens are so entertaining and they frequently do some pretty amazing things. As far as dust bathing goes, I keep a flat box of wood ash in my coop. The chickens love rolling around in it, and wood ash works better for preventing lice and mite infestations than dirt or dust does. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. We are here to help in any way we can. Good luck with your flock.
 
Thanks much. Can you tell me what kind id wood ash to use. Sounds li K e a good thing to do.
 
Terrytay said:
Thanks much. Can you tell me what kind id wood ash to use. Sounds li K e a good thing to do.
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The ash from any natural wood that you've burned in your fireplace or grill will work fine (oak, hickory, ash, aspen, locust, etc.).
 

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