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- #71
- Jun 28, 2011
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Here are our winners! Congratulations to...
@meetthebubus
@LittleMissCountry
@The Moonshiner
@Cayuga momma
@R2elk
Thank you everyone that entered!
@meetthebubus
Mowhawkie the hen
I live on a suburban ranch. The land is surrounded by hills and mountains that seem
within arms reach. My family came from the city, and our new land put us in the middle of the
wild which was very different than what we were used to. We came from HOA’s and cookie
cutter neighborhoods, to peaceful freedom and sprawling brush. At first we were not expecting
much wildlife since people have been inhabiting the area for many years. Because of that, we
started our homestead ranch with a chicken run and coop. A five foot high fence was put up
around them, and for many months we felt pretty safe. On our first Thanksgiving morning on the
ranch, we were inside preparing for a turkey dinner when suddenly an uproar outside erupted
from the chicken run. This sound of the chickens yelling was more intense than I usually hear
from them. I am out the door right away to check it out, and I see something that took my breath
away. My golden colored hen was jumping higher than the five foot fence, flapping her wings as
a bobcat was leaping right under her. Its paws were outstretched trying to grab at the hen. I yell,
“mountain lion!” My husband runs down the narrow steps toward the commotion, and the hen
takes off with the wild cat right behind her. She was running at full speed, feathers tight, neck
outstretched, and low to the ground. She runs past my husband towards the brush to hide as the
bobcat cuts its chase short having just seen him there. My husband yelled and waved a large
object, trying to convince the bobcat not to challenge him. The bobcat was considering its fight
or flight options. It arched its back and let out a fierce growl and hiss that only a large cat can
produce. It took a swipe towards him, but it was too far to reach him. The bobcat decided the
flight option was its best choice, so it turned tail and ran off towards the sanctuary of its
mountains. With the bobcat gone, we started searching for the lost hen. My daughter followed a
trail of feathers that led her to the right bush. Mohawkie the Hen was found safe, lying low in the
bush, and still breathing very hard from the exertion.
A snack of pomegranate seeds right away to the flock took their stress away, and a 360 enclosure was installed within 2 weeks.
@LittleMissCountry
I have four chickens. A few months ago, I gave them a tomato in their run. They were all fighting over it. The one that is lowest in the pecking order, a buff orp, squeezed her head between one of the other's legs and grabbed the tomato. She ran to the corner of the run, dropped the tomato, turned around, and sat on it. The other chickens ran all around trying to find it, then gave up. She got up, and ate her prize.
@The Moonshiner
TAKE YOUR CHICKEN TO WORK DAYI live out in the boondocks. 3 1/2 acres fenced in around the house where many of my chickens free range in. I drive a 2 door exployer 4X4. Have to out here because of how bad the roads are. I work about 20 or 25 minutes away at a show horse barn.
The first half of my commute is washed out, washboard, pot hole barely gravel roads then a twisty, curvy, hilly two lane blacktop.
So two springs ago I picked up a few black show girls.
They ran in the yard, never caused issues and were growing up quickly.
Well one day I was at work when I happened to look out the big oval glass in the front door of the barn. There was a young man that works part time running across the parking lot. He's bent over zig zaging around. Reminded me of someone chasing a chicken trying to catch it.
I had to go see what he was after and when I got outside the door I see him dive down and snag something as it ran to get under a horse trailer.
By now there's a couple other people also on the scene and they're all laughing and chatting but I still can't see what he has. As I get closer I hear then talking about weird, strange, chicken, and.... Wait a minute that's one of my showgirl pullets.
Apparently they had never seen a silkie and everyone laughed and commented about how strange of a chicken she was.
I explained she was one of mine. Chatted about her and everyone got a good chuckle about it being bring your chicken to work day.
It was odd but actually wasn't the first time one stowed away in my truck.
Day two. I'm back at work. After a couple hours a young girl is there and says the dogs are chasing something outside. She is frantic they are going to kill it but isn't sure what it is. It looks like a strange chicken. No it can't be. Not again. No way. But yes. Its the same pullet. I retrieve it unharmed and box it up and back into my truck.
Now I'm thinking how is she doing this. We all have another good laugh and everyone decides she just must have gotten in the truck the night before and hopped out when I got out.
Now I'm getting puzzled by this. How and when did she get in and when did she get out? I rarely leave my windows down at home and never at work at that time of the year. I'm thinking being a silkie there's no way she could of flew high enough to get into an open window anyways. And she could of only gotten out when I opened the door. How could she get out without me seeing her? Well it is still dark when I get to work. Maybe somehow she hopped out from behind my seat and went under the truck while I was grabbing my phone and coffee and I just didn't notice. I'm still more confused about how she got into the truck.
Took her back home and told my wife she did it again. Of course she laughed but I was too puzzled over this mystery and still couldn't figure it out. I know my windows were up the whole time. It was in the 40s. I'm just not believing this little pullet that can't fly is finding the exact right time to get into the truck and out of it at the same time I do and I'm not noticing. And its dark when I leave. About a hour or more before sunrise. She can't be doing this. No one else is up when I leave. Is someone putting her in my truck? Kids jacking with me? What is going on?
Day three. I get in my truck turn on all four dome lights. Check everywhere. Ha, no chicken today. Off to work. Get out. Watch closely. Shut door. Ha still no chicken. Off to work. Hour or so later the same young girl shows up and has a laugh about the chicken the day before. We go outside to get a saddle from her truck. Its just getting light now and what's that? Did I hear a chicken cluck or ? No way. This chicken has me going crazy. Hearing things.
I look over at my truck just to make sure it is my imagination.
What the heck? As I'm looking I see her hop down from up underneath my truck to the ground and quickly run under the trailer. Oh no this isn't happening. We both run over and look underneath. Yep its her. Same pullet. She has been roosting up in the frame under my truck and riding up there to work for the last three days. When the sun comes up she hops down and starts her adventure for the day. I have no idea how she stayed up there and didn't fall out.
This pullet is crazy. This story is crazy and maybe it has me crazy.
Silly chicken.
Everyone at work has a grand ol time with this crazy stowaway chicken. I'm releived to have solved the mystery at last.
But now what? Since apparently she isn't going to stay at home and this young girl is so amazed by this pullet and how adventurous and unique looking she is she becomes the proud owner of her first flock. I gave her the pullet and brought a pair of the ones that a bought with her the next day.
That was about a year ago and I heard she hatched a bunch of chicks from them over the summer.
I believe the girl is off to college and commuting.
Chapter two? Chickens go to college?
IDK, maybe.
@Cayuga momma
My funny story:
I have a hen who was spoiled as a chick. Now even though she has a coop, she continues to try to break into our house.
We are building our home so she has become very inventive.
One day we heard a rustling noise in our ceiling (which wasn't finished).
Suddenly the insulation popped out and when I looked up, there was Henny.
So I climbed up a ladder and pulled her down.
View attachment 1583348
So yes she got into the rafters and was trying to get in.
I clipped her wings, but she still insists on getting in. We have a camper attached to our house. So now she tries to get in through the camper.
View attachment 1583467
View attachment 1583468
Well she is completely closed out now so she knocks (pecks) on the door all through out the day, everyday.
View attachment 1583474
And that is my funny story of Henrietta, our first chick.
Edit: Henrietta has figured out how to get into the house through our cat's door. I have given up and started putting a diaper on her when she came in around 9am every morning. I have since learned that I have to leave the diaper off until she lays her egg first, lol. Then she hangs out until my son gets home from school and she goes back out the cat door to join her sisters in her coop.
View attachment 1602442
Yesterday I found her all snuggled up beside my husband on our bed. They were both taking a nap. For a man who says I baby the chickens too much, that was a sight to behold.
@R2elk
Many years ago I had a BBB (broad breasted bronze turkey) that decided she should be broody. I also had a couple of African geese hens and one Toulouse gander. The geese were laying so I gave two goose eggs to the turkey hen.
Twenty-eight days later one goose egg hatches and the BBB hen steps on it. By the time I found it, the gosling was already dead. The next day the second egg hatches and the BBB hen again steps on the gosling. This time I checked soon enough to find the gosling alive but its legs were out flat on either side of its body.
I made hobbles for the little one and hand raised it until it was doing good enough to remove the hobbles (several weeks old). Once it was walking fine without the hobbles I would take it out for walks. It always stayed very close to me, very often walking along with me positioned between my legs.
The adult geese were yearlings and had never hatched any eggs yet. They were also not pets and would not let me get within 30 feet of them.
One day when I was taking the gosling for a walk, we got as far as the end of the concrete pad in front of the garage. The geese happened to be down the hill approximately 60' away. They spotted the gosling and these geese who would not let me get close to them began to approach. All three came within 30 feet, talking the whole time. One hen left the group and continued to approach. The gosling placed itself between my legs for protection.
The goose continued to approach until she was close enough to stretch her neck to its maximum, reached between my legs and gently herded the gosling away from me. She retreated with the gosling and returned to the other two geese. She took that lone gosling and both hens adopted it and raised it without any more interference from me.
Thank you everyone that entered!
