Chapter 4- Hardy's First adventure....
It had been raining way too much for Hardy's liking. The area where the two chicken runs meet was a low spot, so when Hardy visited the little girls, he was up to his knees in water ( If chickens had knees, that is). When the puddle wasn't there, he'd be standing in squishy mud. It's really hard to do the rooster dance in squishy mud.
The humanlady finally decided it was time to make a covered feeder for them, and while she put it together, she was going to let Hardy and the Ladies go exploring. They had not yet been allowed to explore because neighbors had gardens, and chickens love gardens, and neighbors don't like chickens in gardens ( and who can blame them).
So, the gate was opened. The Ladies bolted out the gate, practically running each other over. They knew how great it was to be on the outside.
Hardy had never been on grass. His dad and uncle and the ladies had trampled,scratched, pecked and eaten every blade of grass in the run. His feet never felt the cool grass. He had never been outside the gate.
He stopped at the gate, and looked down at the grass. He knew it was something good to snack on, but he wasn't sure about walking on it. Even though the humanlady was telling him he should run free, he just wasn't sure.
He went back in to the run, and looked around. His Lades were gone. The little Girls were stuck in their run. Hardy felt bad for them. He didn't want freedom if the Girs couldn't be free also.
So, he stood in the mud and talked with the girls. He did his little rooster dance. Finally, his bestest buddy Laurel told him to go run free. The little Girls had grass in their run, so they knew how good it felt under their feet. Laurel wanted Hardy to be able to experience that feel too. Between the humanlady and Laurel both nagging him to go outside, Hardy couldn't put it off any longer. He stepped outside the gate.
The grass tickled his feet, and Hardy wasn't sure whether it was a good tickle, or an annoying tickle- like when a fly keeps landing on your face. He took some tentative steps, decided nothing was going to hurt him. Then he tasted his first real taste of freshly picked grass. Yum! He called the Ladies over to enjoy this succulent treat.
Hey! Where are all the Ladies??
Hardy wasn't sure what to do. There was this bg open space, and he couldn't see the Lades anywhere. He was worried because they didn't come when he announced treats. He was also a little scared because he was out in the big world all alone.
So he did what any other self respecting rooster would do in a situation like this- he ran back to the run to keep the little Girls company!
It took a few minutes, but he knew his Ladies could be in danger, and it would be very wrong of him to be hiding instead of protecting them. He cautiously wandered out of the run, and started to walk along the outside of the run.
The humanlady took notice, and felt bad for Hardy. So, she called the Ladies. The Ladies came running from 4 different directions. Hardy looked up, and saw all his Ladies!! WooHoo! He came trotting toward them, very happy to see that they were not harmed or lost. As an added bonus, the humanlady was serving strawberries.
After the snack, the Ladies took off to the front. Hardy wasn't sure where they were going, but he followed.
***to be continued