My parents know how quirky our birds are, but they just didn't believe me with this one!
When my dad gets home from work at night he'll often let the chickens free range outside of their run for the couple hours before it gets dark, and their run opens right up into the goose run which is all fenced in and grassy, so it works out quite well. This, of course, distresses the geese, especially our gander, who feels it is his right to goose any intruder who comes near. Though they've been raised right next to the chickens their whole life they do NOT like sharing! The chickens are well aware of this and keep their distance, but still. This particular set of chickens have never really been huge fans of humans, and most certainly do not come when called. But after my dad closed the chickens in the coop last night he forgot to close the door to their run, so when he let them out this morning they were free ranging with the geese, and there was no time for him to go around and individually catch 9 chickens and put them all back in the run.
But today I walked into the goose run, and after having the same heart attack I always have when I see chickens giving themselves dust baths I started calling "chick chick" and they all ran towards me. Thinking that was odd, I decided to test them. They followed me around, probably expecting treats or something, but they've never done that. Then I walked into the chicken run to see if maybe I could trick them into going inside. They very obediently followed me in. Then I looked behind me and saw the two geese herding the chickens more closely than many border collies could do! Have any of you ever had your geese herd other animals?? I wish I could have gotten it on tape because it was so funny, the geese weren't even nipping, just bringing up the rear and making sure no chickens strayed from the group!
And this is why I love poultry.
When my dad gets home from work at night he'll often let the chickens free range outside of their run for the couple hours before it gets dark, and their run opens right up into the goose run which is all fenced in and grassy, so it works out quite well. This, of course, distresses the geese, especially our gander, who feels it is his right to goose any intruder who comes near. Though they've been raised right next to the chickens their whole life they do NOT like sharing! The chickens are well aware of this and keep their distance, but still. This particular set of chickens have never really been huge fans of humans, and most certainly do not come when called. But after my dad closed the chickens in the coop last night he forgot to close the door to their run, so when he let them out this morning they were free ranging with the geese, and there was no time for him to go around and individually catch 9 chickens and put them all back in the run.
But today I walked into the goose run, and after having the same heart attack I always have when I see chickens giving themselves dust baths I started calling "chick chick" and they all ran towards me. Thinking that was odd, I decided to test them. They followed me around, probably expecting treats or something, but they've never done that. Then I walked into the chicken run to see if maybe I could trick them into going inside. They very obediently followed me in. Then I looked behind me and saw the two geese herding the chickens more closely than many border collies could do! Have any of you ever had your geese herd other animals?? I wish I could have gotten it on tape because it was so funny, the geese weren't even nipping, just bringing up the rear and making sure no chickens strayed from the group!
And this is why I love poultry.