I love this post.
Last night here my husband and I are in the dark, me holding a ladder, him up on top of the last rung struggling towards the pitch of the roof on the coop, he was attempting to eye out where to staple the tar paper down so the chickens won't get wet during today's thunderstorms (we have been adding new shingles, so it was bare). I was his spotter, like there was much I could do if he toppled 15 or so feet down,..but we believed it, truly...
So I got to watching the ducks who stay out later than anyone, in an attempt to distract myself from the possibility of being a pancake if my husband did in fact fall on me,..the ducks have a massive pile of branches that we had planned to chip for mulch but now I have to wonder if I want to do that, because they are just so fascinated with it. They finally finished up with their pile and went back to the covered run chatting all the way, the odd way that they do and into their pond for the nights last dip they went.
So there I was holding the ladder, spotting my husband and thinking about how funny the ducks are..we call them collectively "here comes trouble",... and trouble got me thinking of our sweet new buck, he came skittish, tried some dominance, oh yeah he was trouble,..some love and apples and now he is just as pliable as the does.
And the girls,..Appy who looks just so sweet and innocent, reminds me of bambi, but is crazy aggressive with my buck and poor little flower, our pygmy, who sits like a dog and acts more like a dog than a goat, whenever I think of Flower I smile,..she came to us with clicking knees and a shy disposition she didn't even know how to be patted properly, you put your hand on her head and she moves her head for the pat. She still has the clicks and even in her attention getting she still comes off so shy,..she brings out this immense feeling of love from anyone who is near her. I smiled just thinking about seeing her earlier, as the sun was setting there she was laying under the big tree, neck covered in sap (tree+goat=sap) with a bunch of chicks sitting on her back while the mother hen cuddled up to her (oh yeah I ran for camera but came back with my husband saying Appy ruined it all she scattered them....pffft what's new).
The hens and rooster were all in for the night, come 5:30 it's all over. The rooster, Gladys, makes the girls bunk in for the night, if any decide they want to stay out later, Gladys will chase them around til they run for the coop with a white flag sqwakin uncle.
Gladys, what a pip that one is,..and I never realized it until recently. Just yesterday my son showed me how when he walked to the barn Gladys jumped in front of him basically telling him you aren't coming down. I never realized Gladys had any aggression until the last few weeks when my son told me what she did to him and then i found out my husband was behind that whole deal and my poor son looks like my husband from Gladys view, so Gladys figures he is coming to pick up his hens against his protests..So funny, I told him to step around and he did whining that he didn't know who Gladys thought he was,...you gotta snicker just to think of it, no pecking, just tall standing wings flapping, foot stomping and pure stupidity
My sons had gone in for the night, they had spent the afternoon on the roof with my husband while he shingled, but I was sure they were in the house now watching some mindless show that sounded like dumb dumb,..and I thought to myself,..I love my life!!! I just love it, love it, love it. We aren't wealthy by some standards, but I feel so rich. I think people who don't have animals to share with their family can never understand what we call chicken therapy. All I know is when my husband and I are out with the animals there is this peace that goes along with it and it reaches into your lives and touches every corner and brings you a happiness that can't be compared to anything.