My neighbor friend (Yes! I have a new neighborfriend) had asked me to take care of her chickens and goats while she is away this week.
She said it was really easy, and just texted me instructions.
I have never taken care of chickens. I’ve met one, once. Hers. Just a few weeks ago. But I don’t know a thing about caring for them.
She said, “Just open their door in the morning and shut the door behind them at dusk.”
Seemed easy enough.
MY GREAT WRANGLING OF THE CHICKENS!
I guess I got there too early because the chickens were not at all ready to go to bed. I took a video of my first attempt at ‘nighty night’. As you can hear/see, I have no idea what I am doing.
Clearly, the chickens can take care of themselves… and pay a neverno mind to me.
Click here to watch my Chicken Wrangling movie.
Click image to watch movie of me wrangling chickens.
Although I failed miserably, I was impressed with how healthy/happy they looked. And, one of them let me pet her, which was amazing.
When I texted the owner and said I couldn’t get them inside, she told me to ‘go back in an hour’.
OK.
THE GOATS
The goat were so sweet and so friendly and so easy. All they wanted was food and a rub. Easy.
This one had a beard. Very sweet.
This is an Angora. She wouldn’t come too close.
Another angora… no issues here…
BACK TO THE CHICKENS.
So I continued to try to herd them and instead, they sat in my lap, basically.
Here they are… a little mob of feathers. The 4th one, the one who wouldn’t go to bed, is off wandering around.
This is Cinnamon. I met her a few weeks back.
Here they are, pecking hay seeds out of my pants and jacket.
Cinnamon looking foul.
That’s the other one… far away and refusing to roost.
AN HOUR LATER.
So I went home, sat around for 30 minutes and went back.
It was almost dark. As I approached the chicken coop, I couldn’t see any of them. The coop was empty! Oh NO!
But I could hear them.
They were very near… but where?
I circled the coop. No chickens.
I opened the egg part. Lots of eggs, no chickens.
Wha? What am I missing?!
Finally, I got my ‘spotlight’ app opened on my phone.
I shined it all around.
And then I caught a reflective beam. A chicken eye!
It was up above… in the tiny rooflike area of the interior of the coop. They were in the little rafters! Two of them squished together. So I went around to the other side of the coop and looked into the rafters there. Yup. Two more.
I know NOTHING about chickens.
But, they are super fun to watch!
