Chicken "gangs"

[Deleted]

This is too funny. Another installment in the wacky chicken files! LOL!

I was out with Rich this afternoon finishing up the cow corral (we were installing the gate), and while I was out there I gave Aiesha her lunch of senior pellets topped with sunflower seeds. She gets locked in her stall, to keep Wind from stealing her food (Wind is a FAST eater).

Well, it was a few minutes before Aiesha was due to be finished, but I heard her in the barn whickering, so I went to see if she was done and ready to be let out, and what did I see? SEVEN chickens standing IN her food dish, eating the last of her lunch! OMG, I almost died laughing! Aiesha actually looked like she was afraid of them!

I don't know how long she managed to hold them off, or whether she even got to eat the majority of it, but I can certainly see why she'd have a problem even finding what was left around all those chickens! LOLOL! I'm sure they went after the sunflower seeds first, but they were finishing up the pellets when I found them.

Poor Aiesha, now I'm going to have to make sure the chickens can't get in the barn when she's eating.

~Lannie

[bergere]

You need a donkey.

Our Jenny has decided the chickens do not need to be any where near her or the horses. And she will gently escort them in another direction. ;D

[Deleted]

LOL! As if I need another "noisemaker!" Although, I don't mind the braying, I'm not sure Rich could put up with it! I'm very glad he doesn't mind the 10 little noisemakers we already have, even though sometimes you can't hear yourself think over their racket!

~Lannie

[Kathy]

Has the Gang of 7 tried to get Aiesha's food again? ;D

I can't wait for the next installment of AS THE HOMESTEAD TURNS. ;D ;D

Wait till you add the heifer into the mix-new stories, further intrigue and more laughs.

[Deleted]

"The Homestead Turns" so fast my head spins, some days! LOL!

No, that rotten gang of chickens has left Aiesha's food alone for the time being. This afternoon when I went to let her out of her stall, three of them were in Wind's dish (Wind had finished a while before), but nobody was bothering Aiesha. Maybe she finally nasty-faced them bad enough to scare them? Hmmm... they're pretty persistent, I don't think Aiesha making a face would really deter them. Maybe she stomped at them.

I can tell she's kind of losing her patience with all those silly birds. When she was coming in for breakfast this morning, I had just let all the chickens and guineas out, and they were in a big blob in front of the barn, so when Aiesha came trotting up she snake-faced them with her ears back and head down low, swinging side to side. One of the guineas didn't get out of the way in time so she bopped him with her nose and he flew straight up! LOL! Then they all scattered so she could get to the barn.

Speaking of which, I'd better go see if they're all heading back toward the coop. It'll be dark in 15 minutes or so. I haven't checked on them for a couple of hours because I've been cleaning house and doing laundry. They could be ANYWHERE!!! (Yeah, but they're probably in the corral, heading for the coop...)

~Lannie

[Deleted]

Speaking of chicken gangs, I've got a real problem! Whenever I go outside now, for whatever reason, and wherever I might be headed to, ALL the chickens and guineas chase me in a big mob, making all sorts of racket. They act like they're starving! They spend all day out on the property, and they're always eating something, so why are they acting like this? I wonder if they need something specific that they're not getting...

Could also just be that they're spoiled. They associate me with food. Yesterday, I was trying to go feed the horses, and as I walked out of the house with Aiesha's bowl of grated carrots, I was mobbed again! I was throwing bits of grated carrot over my shoulder as I went, and they were grabbing them but they kept coming. (LOL, I was reminded of when submarines eject "countermeasures," the things that fizz and whir in the water to hopefully distract the torpedoes that are headed toward them!) Where was Rich?? GONE! He'd wandered off somewhere and I couldn't even yell for help! LOL! I had to go put the carrots in the barn (up high), get some seeds and go out and throw them around to distract the chickens and guineas (see, this is a very bad habit I've gotten into, and then I wonder why they chase me), so I could go back in and dish up the horses' lunch and get them in their stalls to eat. While I'm out throwing seed to the chickens, the horses are both pawing the ground and yelling for me to hurry up and FEED THEM! What a zoo! LOL!

When I finally got everyone settled, and found Rich, I asked him why he had disappeared (he usually comes out with me to feed), and he said he was busy digging a hole, but he had heard all the commotion and wondered what was going on. I wanted to just slap him upside his little punkin head!! LOL!

But seriously, egg production has dropped off about 50% in the last few days, and I'm wondering if they need something extra that they're not getting. Or maybe they're just "off" or maybe they've discovered a NEW place to stash eggs. I found their old place. I give them their seed blend (wheat, oats, barley) in their feeder, plus several "tossings" of sunflower seeds, plus they get milk or cream every few days, along with some beaten eggs, and they eat all the green stuff outside all day long every day. I haven't changed anything in their feed lately, and I'm sure they're getting plenty of protein and fat. Weird...

Anyway, I tell you about this, so that anyone who hasn't had chickens before and is thinking about getting them won't make the same mistakes I have and spoil their chickens rotten!

Not that I'd change a thing if I had it to do over again, but then, I'm a pushover for any kind of critter. ;D

~Lannie