You know you love your chickens when...

[Raggedyroad]

When you're tucked into bed past midnight, just dropping off to sleep when you hear a a loud bawking from the coop so you shove your feet into shoes and run outside, sure that something's eating your babies. In a t-shirt and undies. The temp is high 40s tonight. Apparently your brahma boy is having a bad dream? So you pet him until he's calm again. Now back in bed, shivering...

What a good Chickie parent. Reading this made me chuckle. The things we do to keep our chickens safe and comfortable. I probably would have done the same.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

When you go out and buy their favorite healthy veggies and serve them up to them in veggie trays so they can stay warm and dry in their coop rather then go forage in the cold rain (its 63 degrees out)

 

[Egg13]

This is my very first post, although I am a long time lurker, well not super long, we only got our chickens in June (they were my birthday present and I had wanted chickens ever since we moved out here to a rural lifestyle block over a year and a half ago).

We started with two; they were both about 18 months old and we got them from a family who weren't allowed to bring them into the place they were moving into. It was sad when we picked them up. The young boy of family, probably about 9 or 10, was crying his eyes out that his pet chickens were leaving, he was very attached to them and they obviously also saw them as pets, as do we. We got them home and they settled in straight away. We have no predators (apart from initially we were worried about our two cats but they all actually seemed to get on pretty well after their first few interactions) so they had their chicken coop, but then down the ramp was their entry onto our 10 acre property where they could just go where ever they want. They were both exceptionally friendly and we loved having them around and hearing them talk to each other and to us. Whenever I arrived home from work, they would both come running from wherever they were on the property chirping at me and seemingly wanting to say hello and hang out.

Last month one of them became ill. She was lethargic and lost both her appetite and energy. She began to just sit by herself under the rose bushes and didn't really move around much. This went on for a couple of days (it was the weekend). Then first thing Monday morning I brought her to our local vet. She stayed over at the vet's for the whole week. They took amazing care of her, ran tests, did x-rays to try and see what was wrong. At first they thought she may have been egg bound as she seemed to have a bit of a lump near her vent when they did the touch and feel around test. It didn't show up on the x-ray though and over the week it became apparent (after loads of bottom baths and no egg passing - she was an amazing layer) that it was something more sinister. On that Friday after work, I went to the vet to visit her again and to make the call. It was extremely hard but I had prepared myself mentally and emotionally for it. I knew it was her time. The vet put her to sleep with me and my husband there stroking her and telling her it was going to be ok. He (the vet was so sensitive with her in the way he treated her, he was warm and caring and made her feel comfortable through the entire ordeal).

You know you love them when you take time off work to bring them to the vet no matter what the $$$$ (it was actually all extremely reasonable $$$-wise, it's just other people who don't understand that you would pay anything for a chicken at all) and you bawl your eyes out about your chicken being put to sleep. I'm lucky that about 50% of people at my work understood that they weren't 'just chickens' and that a pet is a pet no matter whether it's a snail or a lizard or a dog or a chicken. I was devastated, but strangely more so when she was ill then after she was put to sleep as I got to see the peaceful way in which it was done, I knew it was for the best and we got to take her home and give her a good burial etc.

We have one chicken left. She had become even more friendly and wanting for our attention and love since her BFF died. She will literally follow us everywhere all over the property and is waiting at the front door for me in the morning to say hi before I go to work.

A new era begins tomorrow. We are getting two more pullet (22 weeks-ish) chickens to add to our current brood of one.

Sorry for the extremely long post. I suppose I'm just getting this all off my chest and also wanted to lose my BYC posting virginity

 

[MollySunshine]

Egg13: Welcome! I enjoyed your story. I know what you mean, unless you have chickies you don't realize how remarkable they are. Congrats on your new arrivals. You will have to post some pics. to show them off.

 

[ChatKath47]

I love it how they come running to me when I go outside, Blondie, the Leghorn, especially. She seems fascinated with whichever pair of shoes I wear, she pecks at them. She is also starting her molt, I saw her picking at her feathers last night, so now I'll have three naked birds!! Glad we installed the heat lamp outside their coop door so it can send a bit of heat into the sleeping/nesting area. They are my dearest pets and when people make "Sunday Dinner" comments, I get a bit upset. I asked the neighbor if he'd ever considered eating his noisy Chihuahua and he said "NO! You don't eat your pets!" I said - "My point, exactly! Only eat the eggs, not the producers."

 

[MollySunshine]

Naked! You'll have to get them some sweaters! I imagine we've all heard a Frank Perdue joke at one point or another....isn't it amazing how these little creatures find a place in your heart. I think people, even myself originally, don't realize they too have personalities. I thought I would be able to get into this and remain matter of fact about them. Nope. I enjoy spending time with the little buggers.

 

[User395221]

A new era begins tomorrow. We are getting two more pullet (22 weeks-ish) chickens to add to our current brood of one.

Welcome to the forum Egg13. Your girl will love having company again after losing her "sister".

I thought I would be able to get into this and remain matter of fact about them.

Ha! I "matter of factly" got some fertilised eggs for my clucky girl. "oh, no doubt only some will hatch, and if none does, we're no worse off". Very matter of fact, all business, me. Today's supposed to be hatch day and I'm a nervous wreck with all the "what ifs" I've read online or imagined all by myself.

I remember years ago, we visited a chicken farm that the sister of a friend had bought. There was a group of baby chickens in a little pen. They were all chirping and running about, being chicks, except for one who was poorly and everyone was picking on it, pecking it, they were going to kill it and remove it from the "pack". One of the guys (a 6 foot blokey-bloke) goes "oh no!" and climbs in to try to rescue this little runt from the others. It can be quite difficult for "city folk" to come to grips with nature and how it sorts things out. I KNOW certain things, but that won't stop me feeling awful if a chick dies or gets murdered by its mother.

 

[Egg13]

They new ones are beautiful, but very different. Our first two had been raised as pets from the outset by their former owners so were extremely friendly. These two are just a little bit more wary of us (and our incumbent president chicken), they came from a breeder - suppose they become more friendly over time. They are definitely a pair though and hang out just doing that slow walk and moon walk together trying to find some bugs. I tried to endear them to me by giving them some grapes chopped up (which president chicken loves) but they just weren't really into it. It's very exciting to have some new ones though, I hope they integrate well

 

[User395221]

These two are just a little bit more wary of us (and our incumbent president chicken),

How old are they? When I got 2 of my girls, they were very young and they used to run away screaming when I went near them. They are "tame" now they are grown up. I think it's natural when they are young to keep away from "potential predators".