I used to be so glad to have chickens, but now I find them to be so much work. Started out with a flock of hens initially, each with her own personality. They were a delight. Over the course of time, we lost all but 1 to different maladies. Tough way to learn about chicken health --good & ill. Thought we'd only have hens until the replacement chicks turned out to be roosters! Kept the nicest temperament, sent the others to freezer camp, got some pullets and picked up an unwanted White Leghorn along the way. Turns out, I was the Little White Leghorn's person. Hard not to love an animal who loves you so much. But the boys started getting overly aggressive with the oldest hen. After much waffling, I agreed that we owed her a higher quality of life than she was getting, so the boys had to go. I've regretted it from the moment we did. And the hen ended up falling ill (or maybe they saw something we didn't) and died n December. So she's gone and so are my boys, one of whom was my little chicken soul match. It's been almost 6 months and I still cry and miss them terribly. I do have one girl who is a cuddle bug, and I'm thankful for her. But the other 4 I could just as easily do without. Maybe they also saw a legitimate ailment and chased my poor old hen away from the food, but I'm disenchanted with them. I try to sit with them, but every time I think we make some progress toward not being skittish, it evaporates. I keep trying, and they seem to try also, but we just can't get past a few steps. They accept me in their space, will beg for food, look at me a lot, check out Lucy on my lap, wander close & walk near me but any movement on my part--slow or otherwise just sets off pandemonium. If I move towards them, all hades breaks loose. Frankly, I enjoy fresh eggs but they are a drag. They got used to the roosters & that just doesn't seem to be reversing now that the boys are gone. I know how much I miss my boys, so maybe they feel the same...who knows? Any suggestions on how to get them to come around? I thought "time & bribery", but no such luck.
mzstre! We're lurking.....
