Friday, May 27, 2005

Chicken chronicles

The hens have decided to shun their handmade nesting boxes. The only place to lay an egg is in the kitty litter box. It's where all the best chickens go, you know.

I've decided to publish some overly grainy (a.k.a. Enquirer-quality) photographs, since the public deserves to know the full story.


Your reporter arrived late to the scene.
A Leghorn was already in the box, when interlopers appeared.


Ms. Lakenvelder scoops Ms. Dominique.
A recycling flash prevented blow by blow photographic evidence, but proof is visible in the tell-tale tail.


Room for one more?


Why not.
Ms. Lakenvelder's twin sister also arrives on the scene,


and is joined by Ms. Americauna.


No room at the enclosed kitty litter box.
Forced to wait in line.
Nothing to prevent a chorus of vociferous sqawking the whole time though.


The chicken version of "how many people can you cram in a phone booth"?
This week's answer: three.


You're kind of in my way.

14 comments:

Karen Schmautz said...

I love, love, love your chicken posts.

No, wait...I didn't mean that any of your posts were chicken...I actually think you are quite brave (see scary snake photos.) I meant that I like your posts about chickens...

Somebody stop me.

Heh!

robin andrea said...

Those chickens are very amusing. I love their names, and how polite they are with each other. Now I know where the term old biddy comes from!

Maktaaq said...

You should re-write the script for Napoleon Dynamite but from the chickens' point of view.

Rurality said...

Hick you are as bas as I am.

DPR: I started to edit to say "erstwhile kitty litter box" but as much as I like typing "erstwhile," that's not quite it. It was never used as a kitty litter box. I need a word that says "it was made for one thing but is being used for something else. As in, "it was made to be a kitty litter box but is now a nesting box for insane hens". I am sure that such a word exists but I can't think of it.

RD you should see the google hits I get for chicken-related terms.

Maktaaq I haven't seen that movie yet!

Dave said...

I think the moral is that the darker and more cozy the nesting box, the better chickens like it.

Rainypete said...

That resembles pub crawilng cars from college. We had 8 of us in a tiny little Toyota hatchback. I feel for those chickens.

Suzanne said...

Those silly chickens...they remind me of kids. You go out and buy them a big toy and they play inside the cardboard box.

Karen said...

I am with Hick; I, too, love your posts re: chickens. The photos especially make them hilarious.

Too funny!

Rurality said...

Dave I think that's it exactly. The lower right wood nest box is like that too, but... there was a snake incident. That may be why they're avoiding it.

Rainypete, now I'm going to be thinking about drunk chickens every time I see them in there. :)

Zanne that's a good analogy!

Karen I'd love to have a chicken cam... just not in the cards right now. It's a wilderness coop - no electricity or water. Which is probably a good thing, or else I'd be wanting to give them air conditioning in the summer. :)

Cuppa said...

Hello
Just stopped by to say thank you paying me a visit yesterday and I am now in gales of laughter. These pictures are soooo funny. Thank you for my morning chuckle.

I will be back soon for another visit.

Rurality said...

Thanks! I have garden envy after seeing your blog. :)

susannah eanes said...

my biddies do the same thing. if one crawls in a laying box then two or three all want to get in the exact same one at the same time. i think it is analagous to when two or more women see the same thing at the same time on the bargain table: immediate pandemonium!
"i saw it first!"
"no me!"
"no meee!!"
then when the first girl exits, the next goes in & pecks at her egg. "take that!"
however, it's all good, we still get 15 eggs a day (from 21 hens)!

Rurality said...

Susannah yours are laying better than mine... I've heard that the second year the eggs are larger but less frequent, and that pretty much seems to be happening right now with the older hens. Except for the green-egg layer - hers are actually getting a bit smaller I think.

Coyotes continue to take their toll. We're down to one Buff Orpington hen and two Dominiques, three White Leghorns, two Lakenvelders, and one Easter Egger. Nine hens where we once had 18.

Rurality said...

I thought about it and realized I'd miscounted... Make that "We're down to nine hens where we once had 20". (Actually two of them were snatched while still very young and I'd forgotten about them.)