Wild City Chicks...

Yesterday the chickens were out free-ranging for quite a while. In fact I'm sure they left no bug or blade of grass uninvestigated. They hopped  up on low limbs of trees, made sure they had lots of playtime on the patio table (not where I want them to be so  I have to shoo them off). Their favorite places to get though, are our refurbished metal  chairs and glider (the glider really glides and it's a challenge to them to get on and work their way up to the highest point ad try to hang and balance there)! They went to one of the compost piles and did a little work on it for us, went to Harry's lettuce garden and made sure everything was okay in it. They heard our next door neighbor come out, get in her car, crank the engine and back out. They all stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the noise…I think it fascinated them since there is a fence and they couldn't see the actual noise-maker.

Run!!!!!

While they played I did a little cleanup around the hen house -cleaned out and refilled water and food containers, turn the bedding in the run, refresh the bedding in the coop. The most exhausting thing I did though was herding them back into the hen house.

I've spent so much time bragging on those SWEET babies I should have seen this coming. Mass mutiny in the backyard! Six chickens going in six different direction and none toward the hen house. I tried all my usual tricks to get them to go in, treats, food, toys, me sitting in there -no luck. One of the first things I thought about was maybe there was a good reason they didn't want to go in so I did check the coop and run to make sure there were no scary creatures hiding out.

Talulah is the best at escaping ME

I have a beautiful Japanese lace-leaf maple tree that of I have pruned/bonsaied and babied for twenty years. The low shape makes good cover for the chickens and they like scratching and pecking at the dirt around it. They also know that when they are under there it is hard for me to reach them. I tried diving under the tree to catch one and ended up breaking a really nice limb. Ugh!  I got the water hose and sprayed the tree just barely enough for them to decide it wasn't such a great place at the moment.

 Oh, the indignity

I finally tried picking them up one at a time and putting them inside the hen house. That, however, was their chance to show off their circus skills. I'd finally get three or four in, close the door and turn around to go after the last few… only they were ALL out again. This went on for a long time. I think they were trying to wear me down (which they did) but not to a good end for them. I got a wagon and some chairs near the hen house and finally got them corralled into a controllable area. In they went, one at a time, giving me the dirtiest looks possible for chickens.

Night, night sweeties!  Finally...

Liz-