AND ON HIS FARM HE HAD A CHICKEN

It’s spring…when a young hen’s fancy turns to thoughts of laying eggs. An old hen, also thinks of eggs but it takes MUCH more concentration. The other day, Hope noticed the girls were “making a funny noise”. The flock has thinned some and we’re down to three but all three were, indeed, making an odd noise. Although it isn’t uncommon for them to wander around the pen, pecking and scratching along with their soft little “bock bock bock…..” sound, this was different. This was something between the cawing of a crow and the honking of a goose but at a low volume. Hard to describe but work with me - Hope thought they sounded like they were talking, not chicken chatter but REAL WORDS.

That night, they hopped on their perch as usual but, in the dark, they continued their odd little chortles…”buh buh buh?....buh buh buh…”. Even after we went up to bed, you could hear them below, tucked in for the night but for the quiet worbling. We wondered about an impending earthquake causing them distress but couldn’t do anything even that were the case so we went to sleep.


The next day was a new day; a new season. The team laid an egg. Yep, just one. On the small side which is normal for the first few in a season. It apparently took all three of them to discuss and plan but we’ve had a couple more eggs since them so it seems we’re back in production. These are aracaunas, known for their pastel-colored eggs,. The girls are getting a little on the old side for laying hens so production is not what it could be so but they’re still good little composters and producers of nitrogen-rich poo for my garden. They are “free range” in that they wander freely within the confines of their pen and eat weeds and bugs as fast as I can find them though not as free range as my friend Sandi’s little biddies over at “Cheaper Than Therapy”. Her chickens get to roost in the rhodies but I feel as if these girls get treated pretty well. I do miss having a big flock like I did in a previous life – as many as thirty some years when my neighbors would grow tired of the novelty of country life and pawn them off on me. I was happy to take them. These girls will be finding new homes later this spring and new peeps will come in to take their place. In the meantime, we will enjoy our fresh, green eggs.