We’ve moved our ladies, as well as the rooster-imposters-soon-to-be switched-out-for-more-ladies. Instead of trying to move their big ol’ box myself, Silje and I hand carried each one from the garage to the coop. David carried one of them, but with the second one, he forgot to keep one hand over the back and the bird began to flap her wings and scared him.
Once they all got settled, he picked them up again, remembering this time to keep a hand over the back. The black ones are his favorite.
Elias even picked up and played with a few. He went for the big ones, like the Americaunas and our few roosters.
See, here he is with one of the roosters. They are the ones with the white tummies and red combs showing up. The kids are having even more fun now that the chicks are in the coop. I’m loving that!
Lena stood at the door with interest, but did not dare go in, or mess with any of them. I’ve been so pleased about her reaction to the birds that I’m toying with the idea of having her help me with them. Right now, we’re leaving them in the coop for a few days to let them settle in and see it as home. Then we’re going to let them go tackle our wood ticks in the yard. It’s said that chickens love to munch on wood ticks. As soon as it is dusk, people tell us that they instinctively go to the coop for protection, and we must be there every night to close the coop so that predators don’t get in. I want to train Lena to stand guard at the entrance of the coop if we don’t get there right away, or are delayed for some reason. From her reaction to the chicks, and her strong intelligence it might be possible. I think it would be an easier thing to ask of a stronger herding breed, but she is half German Shepherd, and understands way more than we normally give her credit for. I’ve heard that Great Pyrenees dogs don’t even need to be trained to do this, but are the best chicken dogs out there. No…we’re not getting another dog…especially a moving piece of furniture like that.
So my plan is to always bring her with me when we go out to the chickens so that she recognizes the daily routine of them. If she’s always at my side and sees us care for them and sees what’s supposed to be done, she will ideally try to keep that in routine when we’re gone. We’ve just recently been able to leave her outside when we’re gone again, although we still put her in her kennel because of habit. When she was just a little puppy, she would tear at the outside of the house if we left her outside without us. Now after a few trial runs, she simply waits on the driveway or porch until we return. I think it may work…or she may eventually eat all of our chickens herself. It’s a gamble.
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