This was a week of chicken rebellions.
On Wednesday, I came back to the houses after feeding the goats, and my cousin was standing in the little dogs’ yard. I asked her what was up. She pointed to the cow pasture beyond our chicken wilderness. “Our chickens are out there,” she said.
Sure enough, there were six renegade hens in our neighbors’ cow pasture.
The flock guardian cat, Jet, went along to protect them:
The cow pastures are complicated. Our neighbors have several of them, and they rotate the cows from pasture to pasture. At the moment the chickens were in a cow pasture that was unoccupied. So, we went after them.
The chickens were panicked. They had realized that they were farther from home than they would like to be, and they were pressing against fences, trying to squeeze through any holes that might get them closer to their coop and safety.
It seemed as if they had gotten into the cow pasture by going underneath a gate that was at the end of our farm. So, we tried to herd them back that way. The chickens would go halfway to the gate, and then freak out because they were too far from home.
There was no way we were going to get them back the way they came.
All six of the renegade hens were from the old flock. So, they weren’t used to being handled the way the new flock is. Jan and I handled the new flock every day for weeks when we were raising them from day-old chicks. But, she bought the old flock as pullets, so they didn't have that experience. Also, the old flock members don’t follow me as readily as the new ones do. So, when I tried to catch them - to pick them up and carry them home - they panicked, and three of them ended up in the neighbors’ backyard, and the other three ended up in the cow pasture that was full of cows!
Neither my cousin nor I know anything about cows. We weren’t going to go into the occupied cow pasture in ignorance. Who knows what an animal the size of a grand piano might do? So, we brought those hens a bucket of water and figured they’d be spending the day there - until our neighbors got home in the afternoon.
The three hens who'd gone to the neighbors’ yard were pretty easy to herd back home. Later in the afternoon, when our neighbor returned, the three in the cow pasture finally found their way out of the cow pasture (with our neighbor's help), and they ran back to their own yard, flapping their wings as they ran, looking as if they were desperate to get to the safety of their coop again.
We decided that our chickens have to remain inside their local yard until we’re able to fix the gate at the end of the chicken wilderness that allowed them to escape.
At this point, we thought the chicken shenanigans for the week were surely over.
Two mornings later, Jan and I were milking the goats when my phone rang. No one phones while we’re milking. It’s still only 7:00ish at that point. It was our neighbor from across the road. She said, “Did you know that all your chickens are in your driveway, and headed for the road?”
No, we didn’t! I told her thanks, and headed out to our driveway. Sure enough, our entire flock was there! I looked at the gate to our front yard, and it was standing wide open. Somehow, one of us must’ve thought we’d dropped the gate latch closed and missed.
I began herding chickens back into our front yard. I’d get about ten of them in, and then The Roo would lead three back out. What an instigator! Finally we got all the chickens back into our yard. Enough with chickens on the lam!
Speaking of birds, the barn swallows are back! Their return is the thing I most look forward to after the cranes have gone. They built a nest last year that was semi-permanent. They're using it again this year. I am looking forward to seeing the several waves of babies in that nest. It’s right above the door to the milking parlor.
In goat news, Kat and I are socializing babies every day, and the babies are growing like weeds. I love this part of the year. The babies are old enough that they run wild together - with the other babies. They are confident enough to be away from their mamas as they play on the climbing toy, or run from one end of the pen to the other, or leap crazily on and off of lawn chairs, garbage cans, and dog crates.
Here is a photo of a gang of babies looking into the chicken yard while we're milking their mamas. (I just can't get over how cute baby goats are).
In soap world, Kat and I have concentrated on making components of our new landscape soaps all week, which will come together, finally, tomorrow. Here are some of our components:
Next week I’ll begin to have photos of our new soaps. I’m so excited to see if they will turn out the way we imagine them. I think we’re going to have some unique and very lovely bars soon.