All of a sudden, I am looking at my yard not as the glorious beautiful restful-to-the-eyes thing I love but instead as a vast amount of space where tender bugs and lovely green shoots are just waiting for...the chickens.
How they must long to escape their coop and go out into the grass and the weeds, nibbling and tasting and catching and pooping.
Everything so far about this whole chicken-raising has mostly come from the seat of my pants, from the instructions probably encoded in my DNA.
And now it's whispering to me, let my chickens go.
Because I know they'd trail after their roosters and then at night they'd shut themselves back up in the hen house and go to sleep where they always sleep and they would be healthier and happier too.
But I worry about the cats and the hawks and the owls and the road. Our used-to-be next door neighbor let his chickens roam and when we asked him if he didn't worry about them getting run over he tipped his hat back a little bit and said in his slow, raised-in-Lloyd way, "Have ya ever seen a dead chicken on the road?"
Well, I have but only once.
And besides that, the garden is not fenced in and those chickens would run straight for my barely-sprouting squash,
my tender okra blooms and pods.
Bad enough I feed them our grapes, our cantaloupe, our peaches. Human-grade food, as we say.
Another thing to consider is that the dogs would go crazy from their enclosed area, running from one side of the fenced yard to another, barking at the strutting, scratching chickens. They would hate them for the freedom, they would WANT them for their own.
I know these dogs. They are not wolves but they think they are.
Well. Maybe one of these days. When we get the garden fenced we will let the chickens out into the big wide world and I will follow them around with a crook and I will be a chicken shepherdess.
You want to know the crazy insane thing about this?
I can actually imagine doing that, following my flock around the yard, keeping them safe from all harm and danger.
Beats working in an office.
You would totally tut around after them. You would worry sick if you didn't. Their freedom would be your prison. Right?
ReplyDeleteI think you need to get a PONY! Haha, well that might just be the twelve-year old girl coming out in me. But I think maybe an alpaca would make you happy. Of course that means if you and Pop leave for a little vacation, I would probably be one of the ones taking care of those animals. I'd do it for you!
ReplyDeleteor a llama!! I hear they're really friendly and make good eating (in a pinch,obvioulsy)
ReplyDeleteconversation last night:
kristina:I sent an email to Ms. Moon, I miss her!
Laura: I sent her an email too! I miss her too!
kristina: Let's go and visit her! We totally should, we could hang with the chickens and garden and stuff. Where is it she lives again??
Ms. Windy- Nah. It wouldn't be a prison. It might be lovely. Mostly I could sit on a blanket and read while they pecked around.
ReplyDeleteHoneyLuna- No ponies for me. But maybe an alpaca although they cost too much. You're a great animal tender. Better than I am. I love you!
Cozzie Laura- Haha! I live in Lloyd. How could you forget Lloyd? Well, I know where y'all live and that's what's important but you SHOULD come visit. I'll send directions on how to get here. I miss you guys too!
My going over the edge involves projecting myself into some other life where I'm a surfer, stoned and perhaps a tiny bit stupid, working in a surf store and just waiting for the perfect wave.
ReplyDeleteI like your chicken shepherdess fantasy.
You need one of those long curled at the end sticks. And a pinafore.
ReplyDeleteThat's cute.
ReplyDeletemy parents once bought three battery farm liberated black chickens, and they roamed free in our garden, having adopted our black cat as Chicken Superior.
ReplyDeletebut do they really need releasing? maybe they're ok in their coop. Do you have foxed where you are??? would they go back at night into the coop to sleep? (i am worried for your chickens)
i mean FOXES, of course
ReplyDeleteWhen people asked me what I was going to do when I retired, I told them I was going to be a shepherd with a few sheep and a border collie and launder money. They gave me a wide berth after that.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy over the edge!
I took some pictures of some very bizarre chickens we saw at the county fair today. I thought of you when we were in the 'poultry barn.' I'll email you some, maybe some of your babies will grow up to look like some of these, there's even a blue one!
ReplyDeleteElizabeth- Oh, the fantasies I could tell...
ReplyDeleteMwa- That's a crook. And yes, I definitely need a pinafore. Or at least a sunbonnet.
Nicol- Cute?! This would be SERIOUS business!
Screamish- We do have foxes (I knew what you meant) but they do not come around in the daytime. Plus, they do indeed go inside at night. But you're so sweet to worry about my chickens. Believe me- I am not going to risk their safety.
I just keep thinking of all the bugs they could find. And what are battery farms?
Joy- It's good to keep the ignorant at bay.
Rachel- I love those pictures! Thank-you so much!
Not that this should stop you, but... I have indeed seen a dead chicken in the road. I almost called you immediately, because you had relayed that story to me just days before. It was truly odd. It was out Old Llod Rd where the people have all the animals in that dusty old paddock. Well, they used to let thier chickens roam loose... Havent's seem em in a while.
ReplyDeleteAround here we see people with those big round portable things like an enclosed yard for dogs; or babies, if you are so inclined. you could get one of those and simply move it from place to place in the yard whenever they need a fresh spot to roam/peck/hunt. Win-win for all, I would think.
ReplyDelete