August 3, 2011

Maybe a short post as an addendum to last night's.  Chickens are crazy!

I think I mentioned that I'm taking care of my brother's flock while they're gone.  I should have mentioned that when I let them out at night (my brother's method to get them into their coop), they mill around for a second, then do their best to get under my feet as I transfer stuff back to the coop and refresh their food (they go in as they want their food that they JUST had access to in their arc, crazy, right?).  So as I'm refreshing their food, they like to jump up next to me and get the first pecks in.  Tonight they even jumped on top of the tray while I was trying to open it to refresh it.  It was then that I realized that his chickens don't like the top part with the holes any more than mine do.  I had it partially off and the one in my arms dug in like there was no tomorrow.  So, I took his top off also.  Sure enough, the girls didn't even let me get out of the way when I opened up their run. In seconds they were all diving into the open tray.  No wonder his birds are a tad smaller than mine. I've had my top off the tray for weeks.  So, long story short, his are people crazy.  They didn't care that a relative stranger was putting them away, just that I had food. ROFL.

Now for my chickens.  I may have mentioned that they're getting more vocal.  But tonight, we heard them from across the street.  I thought either they were trying to lay an egg or something was trying to attack them.  I ran over and they quieted down.  I have no idea what got them riled up, but I sure hope they stop bocking so much, or someone may complain and I'd have to get rid of them.  Wouldn't THAT be horrible?

Anyone knowledgeable in chicken raising know why they all of a sudden got so loud at 4 months?