And then I have the fleeting thought, “Mmmmmmaybe not so major to them as to me,” but then again, I reject that thought as plain old Stinkin Thinkin. Because I know that there is hardly anything more important than the fact that my brilliant chickens have now put themselves to bed FOUR nights in a row!
And it’s a damn good thing, too, because these days, any stragglers get locked out for the night with the new Automatic Chicken Door that I installed yesterday. Now, every night at 9:30, the door slooooowly slides shut, and in the morning at 8:00 a.m. it opens and lets the girls out into the sunshine.
My next-door-neighbor Maggie (Not Her Real Name) told me that her chickens always woke up at 4 a.m. and wanted to go out, but I explained to her that was because her chickens were industrious and hard-working Mormon chickens, and mine are laid-back and lazy Southern girls. At least now they don’t have to wait until 10:30 or 11:00 for their even lazier chicken tender to roll out of bed and let them out.
And now, a gratuitous photo of Big Red (Not His Real Nickname) The Landscape Guy, who is giving Little Buck (Do You Have to Ask?), his feckless assistant, a short lesson in driving the bobcat. Usually Big Red reserves all the heavy equipment driving for himself, but after I pointed that out to him, he decided to give Little Buck a break.
And back in Chicken Land, I have created little addicts. The girls (and boy[s?]) really love a nice giant mealworm. Now every time I step anywhere near, they are all over me, scratching nervously and saying, “Hey man, you got any of that stuff? Like, we don’t need it or nothing but it would be so sweet if you just had a little taste for us, you know?” And then they twitch for a while until I start doling out the (LIVE) worms.
{ 10 comments }
I love your header of the chicken butts!
You have quite a high tech operation there! I’m so impressed:)
Do you ever wonder if your chickens are like on the movie “Chicken Run” and they are plotting to escape? And they partying every night once safely tucked in bed? (so you think) Those silly chickens probably are!
You’re doing it right, doling out a little bite of worm, then walking away….once you have a little bite, they’re hooked and you can charge whatever you want! I’ll bet they’d even offer their mama for fryin’!
The fact that you have automated bedtime is shear GENIUS! Can you maybe throw one of those on my kids doors, only I want the locked either in their rooms or on the porch, not just in the house.
Secondly, we need more pictures of the help. Close ups. Preferably shirtless. You know so we can see what Toe will be doing when she gets there.
As usual, thank you for a hearty laugh.
I am so impressed with this chicken coop set-up. I don’t know a thing about chickens and raising them so perhaps I am easily impressed…but I’m still impressed.
And nice work on the sleep training!
First, thanks a million times over for not showing a close up of the mealworm. I really hate worm like things (i.e. worms, snakes). I would have nightmares for days.
Second, now that I know that I don’t have to eat toads I want my farm bitch job back. Will my condo have one of those automatic bed time doors? Oh, and I will not be indulging the chickens in their “habit” as I don’t handle worm like things. It’s on my resume….take a look.
Okay, not funny Chloe….coming over here and leaving a comment with your cute name making me want to check out your blog. There’s a picture of a huge snake on there. I’m not going to be able to sleep for days now.
Kathi, make sure there are no snakes on the property before I get there, otherwise I will have to live on your roof and never come down. Could be a little odd to expain to the neighbors.
This automated bedtime thing is working out great. Now if I could only do it for myself.
No snakes here! Nuh uh. Just the mealworms, and they are going fast.
The chicken coop is state of the art. I find myself impressed by it daily. I haven’t even shown you the adjacent chicken/human recreation area yet. Another one of Big Red’s projects.
Toe, will you be bringing your repairman with you when you move out here? There’s plenty of room, and lots of chores.
That automated chicken door is so cool! Did you make it yourself or use some kind of kit?
I am still trying to get my chickens to realize that the little ladder we put in their run two days ago is so they can climb in and out of the coop more easily. They seem to think it’s an obstacle they have to figure out how to jump around.
I ordered it from this website:
http://www.chicken-house.co.uk/door_opener.htm
It’s working great so far, and I love that the girls get shut in safely even if I’m not around, and let out in the morning long before I wake up.
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