Like many others, I was somewhat in the path of some terrible weather. Thankfully no real damage to any of my cages and coops. Just buckets of disgusting mud. The ground just can't soak in any more water. Add that to the fact that I live near a lake, and you get the soggy picture.
I have some very nice neighbors. Everyone is fairly quiet. The kid whose family lives kind of behind me sometimes makes some noise with his dirt bike, but, he is a polite kid, never trespasses on my property, respectful of the animals.
This morning he and his young cousin were knocking on my back door. The cousin was in tears, sobbing uncontrollably, the kid looked scared he was going to be in serious trouble. I immediately thought that something was wrong and the parents weren't home, and was trying to figure out what hospital to rush them to. As an older cousin who has been left in charge of the younger ones, I understand that sometimes accidents happen. Thankfully, this was not the case.
They were trying to clear the dirt bike track that is behind where I keep my chickens, and when they pulled one dead tree down, another fell. Like in a cartoon, that tree knocked down another and another. The domino trees finally stopped, though. Right on my chicken cage. Thankfully no kids were squished, nor were any chickens. Just one side of the run was knocked down. Thankfully no real structural damage.
The chickens had all decided that since there was now a large hole in the cage, they were allowed out of the cage. They swarmed out like they were bursting out of jail. The kids, realizing that the birds should not be out, set about corralling them and putting them temporarily in another empty cage I have. They figured if they caused the problem, they should fix it. They also told me that they were afraid the chickens would get lost, so they figured they had to act fast.
Not all of my chickens are easy to catch. So it did take some doing, but they managed to get all but two. The ayam cemani and the silkie roo. I don't blame them, those two are not easy to handle on a good day. Working together, they managed to trap the cemani and put her with the rest of the flock, leaving the silkie. He is...not a very good chicken for what I have chickens for. To look at. To interact with. He has a heart attack if I look at him for more than 0.00001 seconds. So imagine these two youngsters, who he isn't familiar with, "hunting" him down and trying to "devour him whole", er, catch him.
I'm honestly surprised that I didn't hear the commotion, but my partner and I were watching movies in the house. Now, they had not grabbed any of the chickens. Most of them were easily herded into the other cage. The cemani was somewhat easily chased and then the door swung open and shut immediately after her. Neither youngster is well versed in handling chickens. The rooster proved to be one that they trapped between the cages, and the only way to get him was to pick him up.
I want you all to picture this. A stressed out bird who is also molting, being chased by two well meaning kids, and then grabbed. As the little girl tearfully told me, he exploded. She had no idea that chickens apparently spontaneously exploded out of their feathers certain times of the year. After grabbing him and having him shed most of his loose feathers, they did return him to the cage, but they were terrified that they had somehow killed him.
I went out with them to see the damage, and he's walking around just fine, a little ragged looking. All the chickens are fine besides a few ruffles feathers. The damage to the run is easily fixed. My partner and I allowed the kids to help us set it upright again. Thankfully the tree fell on the part that was zip tied together, waiting for replacement parts to truly join it together. So the ties were destroyed, and not much else. There was also an absolutely amazing near circle of rooster feathers on the ground where they managed to catch him.
I thanked them both for their honesty and help in making sure my chickens did not escape. I also talked my partner into helping clear the dead trees. I hope that poor little girl isn't too traumatized by my exploding chicken.
I have some very nice neighbors. Everyone is fairly quiet. The kid whose family lives kind of behind me sometimes makes some noise with his dirt bike, but, he is a polite kid, never trespasses on my property, respectful of the animals.
This morning he and his young cousin were knocking on my back door. The cousin was in tears, sobbing uncontrollably, the kid looked scared he was going to be in serious trouble. I immediately thought that something was wrong and the parents weren't home, and was trying to figure out what hospital to rush them to. As an older cousin who has been left in charge of the younger ones, I understand that sometimes accidents happen. Thankfully, this was not the case.
They were trying to clear the dirt bike track that is behind where I keep my chickens, and when they pulled one dead tree down, another fell. Like in a cartoon, that tree knocked down another and another. The domino trees finally stopped, though. Right on my chicken cage. Thankfully no kids were squished, nor were any chickens. Just one side of the run was knocked down. Thankfully no real structural damage.
The chickens had all decided that since there was now a large hole in the cage, they were allowed out of the cage. They swarmed out like they were bursting out of jail. The kids, realizing that the birds should not be out, set about corralling them and putting them temporarily in another empty cage I have. They figured if they caused the problem, they should fix it. They also told me that they were afraid the chickens would get lost, so they figured they had to act fast.
Not all of my chickens are easy to catch. So it did take some doing, but they managed to get all but two. The ayam cemani and the silkie roo. I don't blame them, those two are not easy to handle on a good day. Working together, they managed to trap the cemani and put her with the rest of the flock, leaving the silkie. He is...not a very good chicken for what I have chickens for. To look at. To interact with. He has a heart attack if I look at him for more than 0.00001 seconds. So imagine these two youngsters, who he isn't familiar with, "hunting" him down and trying to "devour him whole", er, catch him.
I'm honestly surprised that I didn't hear the commotion, but my partner and I were watching movies in the house. Now, they had not grabbed any of the chickens. Most of them were easily herded into the other cage. The cemani was somewhat easily chased and then the door swung open and shut immediately after her. Neither youngster is well versed in handling chickens. The rooster proved to be one that they trapped between the cages, and the only way to get him was to pick him up.
I want you all to picture this. A stressed out bird who is also molting, being chased by two well meaning kids, and then grabbed. As the little girl tearfully told me, he exploded. She had no idea that chickens apparently spontaneously exploded out of their feathers certain times of the year. After grabbing him and having him shed most of his loose feathers, they did return him to the cage, but they were terrified that they had somehow killed him.
I went out with them to see the damage, and he's walking around just fine, a little ragged looking. All the chickens are fine besides a few ruffles feathers. The damage to the run is easily fixed. My partner and I allowed the kids to help us set it upright again. Thankfully the tree fell on the part that was zip tied together, waiting for replacement parts to truly join it together. So the ties were destroyed, and not much else. There was also an absolutely amazing near circle of rooster feathers on the ground where they managed to catch him.
I thanked them both for their honesty and help in making sure my chickens did not escape. I also talked my partner into helping clear the dead trees. I hope that poor little girl isn't too traumatized by my exploding chicken.
