Alone! with the chickens!

[Rebecka]

So, I am going to be alone with the chickens. All 114 of them. My sweet husband is heading out to Iowa in a few hours to pick up our bees and thats going to leave me not just reading to my feathered friends but actually caring for them. I know I shouldn't be nervous, but I am. I have never actually given them feed, water , cleaned up after them. My sweet husband 'gears's up ' for the task with long sleeves, heavy boots and gloves. I own none of those things. When I read to them.. I hop in the coop and quickly tuck my feet under me. ( I learned quickly that toes are freakishly appealing to chickens) They quickly recognize its snuggle time with the less hairy human and settle in for stories. Even the roosters stop their pecking order games and cuddle up for nap time. I realize I might sound dramatic, did I mention there are 114 of them?? My sweet husband has come in from cleaning or feeding covered in scratches and bleeding. I understand chickens arent all that bright, but I am horribly afraid of them associating me , not with the reading and snuggle time, but with the aggressive chaos that is feeding, watering and cleaning. I don't really have a question. I guess I just need to be told it will all be okay

 

[tortoise]

Good luck with the birds (and the bees)!

 

[bibliophile birds]

HOLY MOLY, that's a lot of chickens. i am so jealous....

you will be fine. i find that a squirt bottle of water often does the trick for clearing a path. of course, that's with 20-something chickens... but that's neither here nor there, really.

good luck. let us know how it goes.

 

[Beekissed]

Those are some aggressive chickens!!! I'd be nervous too! Are they meat chickens? Mine are more crazy at mealtimes than my layer flock, so I can imagine 114 meaty birds all comin' at ya...

I've taken to shoo-ing all the birds out of the coop with a leaf rake, shutting the pop door and the main door and distributing feed in peace...it was getting to where I was afraid to take a step for fear of squashing a stupidly hungry meaty chick. I swear they are like piranha! Still...never came away with scratches and bleeding in all these years with chickens.

My chicken world will go back to normal after these darn meat birds are gone!

My sympathies, dear!

 

[Farmfresh]

If it were me and I was afraid I would do a little preemptive strike!

Get everything ready to go, and then throw out some table scraps or whole grains out away from the coop and call the chickens. While they are out there eating you should then be free to do the chores is relative peace.

Now on another very important note. I can go into the chicken pen, the pasture with never a problem at all. Last Monday my arthritis was bad. My sweet hubby went to feed my three hens that temporarily live at my daughters house for me. He wore boots and jeans. He carried a 5 gallon bucket with feed, a 5 gallon bucket with water and an egg carton with him.

He scratched his arm getting into the pen, stepped knee deep into a boggy mud puddle, he could not find any eggs except for one on the floor (and we had been gone for a weekend) AND he brought back a DIFFERENT bucket from the barn than the one he took in there.

I went to feed the next day. I was barefoot, wearing shorts. I came back perfectly clean and intact and with 10 eggs (which were in the nest box by the way and now were animal food). I managed to bring back my same buckets AND I carried an old trash can to the barn for storage as well.

Maybe it is just a guy thing. Your chickens love to listen to you read, so maybe you will be welcomed into their coop.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

i think if i came out of the hen house/pen scratched and bleeding there would be a LOT of chicken-n-noodles for supper!

 

[justusnak]

i think if i came out of the hen house/pen scratched and bleeding there would be a LOT of chicken-n-noodles for supper!

Thats what I was thinking too! scratches?? Bleeding?? Ohhhh HECK NO!!!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

hee hee hee hey Rebecka!

what you need is a beatin stick and a couple of good dogs
;-)

but i've always said that if them hens could ever actually get me on the ground, i would be done for


if i were you i'd march in there, plant my feet wide, suck in that gut, stick out that chest, shake a frying pan at them, and declare in a loud voice:

ALRIGHT YOU LAZY CLUCKS! ANYBODY WANT A PIECE OF ME!?!?

i betcha all you'd get is a lot of shuffling around and everyone avoiding eye contact. but thats just how i'd handle it.
;-)

 

[TanksHill]

That's how I act when making my family breakfast!!!!

 

[Rebecka]

Okay, so I decided the best method would be to get in there while they are still sleeping. I figured I could be really quiet, remove the feeders and waters, sneak out with them, clean and fill them then sneak back in right? Wrong! Just as I was removing the last feeder, I was spotted by one of the black roosters. Like a good rooster should ( I guess) he sounded the alarm. At this point I am pretty sure time slowed to a near stop. My head began swimming with all kinds of directions this could go. I saw my sweet husband returning to find his loving wifes bones pecked clean in the coop. I saw flashes of Hitchcocks 'The Birds'. I saw my self running around the yard with 114 chickens angrily chasing me.

I was then struck by brilliance, its not something that happens all that often, so I am quite proud. For two months, these chickens have been listening to the sound of my voice. Soothed by such titles as Seed to Seed, The Self Sufficiency Handbook, Beekeeping for Beginners and Pride and Prejudice . So, I did the only thing I could think of. I extended my index finger , shook it firmly and said " No!" They all stopped cold. I mean like they were frozen in place. I picked up the last feeder and walked through some obviously very confused chickens and out the door I went.

Having cleaned and filled the feeders and waterers, I returned them in absolute peace. They excitedly but patiently waited until I set them down and then went after them. At one point Flash jumped up on my back, but this is not uncommon so there was no stress involved. He is a good bird, nice temperament and has my vote for "The chickens we won't eat" list. Unlike Fred , who is mean to the other birds and is currently top on the "time out in the slow cooker "list

I can only hope mid afternoon feeding goes as well!

They are a mix of meaties and layers. I know nothing at all about what kind they are. There are reddish brown ones that are supposed to lay brown eggs. They were all supposed to be girls, but it appears some are not. Then there are yellow ones, black ones and black and white striped ones. Most of the non red ones were supposed to be males or a mix. We are finding that most have actually turned out to be girls. I am guessing it was a new guy at the chick sorting place that day ??

I think I am going to use a combination of your ideas for the afternoon feeding. I think I will put on my 'cargo' apron. A squirt gun in one pocket and cracked corn in the other. Thanks for all your support during this stressful time!