Day one of Chicken Wrangling has gone very very well. The girls have already associated their coop with a safe haven. After some worrying by their new mommy they have both learned how to use the ramp up to the roost. At first they just walked around and then sat down on the grass floor of the coop. I was concerned they would get cold. When I looked out the bedroom window this morning, Barbara was looking out the roost window at me.
They are very curious and chatty, chortling and cooing. At about 11:00am we corralled Annie in the house and let the girls out of the coop. They slowly explored the west side of the yard, pecking and chortling. I sat down on the chaise lounge and Barbara jumped up on the adjacent chaise took a long look at me then hopped down and continued to graze and gaze. I have been able to pick them both up, one at a time, and while they are not crazy about it yet, they do not try to peck or claw me.
Seeing the girls playing in the yard was like a dream come true. I have visualized so many times seeing chickens out in the yard, watching them walking around, exploring, and chatting with them. I got to do this today. They both were very interested in me, and kept coming back to where I was sitting to visit.
Did some work with Annie getting her used to Barbara and Mabel. She is already able to sit inside the dining room, with the door open and the screen shut without going nuts trying to get out and see her new sisters. We have taken her on the leash out twice to let her them in the coop. And, she only has access to the east side yard, which is what we do in winter anyway to try to control for muddy paws. We did not want to further stress the girls, so kept the visits very brief. Lots of TLC for Annie and bravos for being a good girl. It's neat getting to use my behavioral psychology education again and seeing that, yep, it still works.
They have had visitors already as my sister Karen, her husband and thier neighbor Barbara came down to meet them. I noticed that when people see the little girls they automatically smile.
When Cal got back from Kiwanis, he sat with the girls outside and let them get used to him. They continued to walk around the yard happy as two little clams.
At about 2:30pm the weather turned kind of iffy with wind and showers predicted for tonight, so we moved the coop under the patio roof . Then the fun really began.
Cal and I had our first Hens versus Senior Citizens backyard races. Those little girls are fast and wily. But age and expreience triumphed over short and fast, and we got the girls back in the coop where they are now happily resting, looking out at their new yard. The Chicken Wrangler strikes again.
No comments:
Post a Comment