Chickens

I am under the impression that chickens really aren’t all that smart. We added on to our chicken coop so there would be plenty of room to make happy chickens and we also fenced off a portion for them to have day time play. In the morning we go out and open their little door to let them have some freedom out of their coop, it’s like recess. Well, a rooster flew his coop and can not figure out how to get back in. He has been on his own for several days now. Seems to me, he is not so smart if he can’t just reverse what he did the first time. He stands on the outside of the fence looking at all the other chickens. You know he wants inside with them, but he doesn’t attempt to fly back into the chicken run. I’ve tried to coax him into an open door, but he is too afraid of me to accept my help.

But not all chickens appear to be so mentally challenged. We at one time had a “pet” chicken. Not by our choice, we were chosen by the said chicken. As I’ve said before, we have had several batches of chickens that have gotten eaten by wild critters. One batch we had a couple of years ago was disrupted one night. When I went out in the morning to feed the chickens, I thought I had lost all of them, until a lone bantam came out of the woods. I could not figure out how this little chicken got out of the coop, but she did and she survived the attack. Smart chicken, right? Yes, but the story does not end there.

As the sole survivor of her flock, we did not put her back into the coop only to meet the same demise as her sisters. We let her free range and roost up in a chosen tree at night. Well, chickens are meant to be in a flock. They do not like to be alone and this chicken proved that. She started to incorporate herself into our family. She stayed on the back porch with the dog and cats. She ate the dog’s food. We even found her in the kids bathroom one night roosting up on the shower curtain. She somehow managed to get in when either the kids or dog came in (Dottie used to open up the screen door with her nose to let herself in). She even spent the night in the laundry room a few times without me knowing it until the next morning. She finally chose our front porch to be her roosting spot at night, right on top of one of my plants. I started calling her CC for Crazy Chicken.
CC and Dottie Dog on the back porch.


CC by the dog food, and she did eat it.


CC roosting on top of the shower curtain.


Quinn holding CC.


We eventually got more chickens and having “secured” the coop, reintroduced CC into the new flock. She even took charge in showing them how things were to be done. We let them out during the day and at night locked them back up in their coop. CC would lead them into the coop at night. It was so funny to see this little chicken leading them all in.

The story ends on a sad note. What we thought was a secure coop turned out not to be. A wild critter started getting in at night. She was the first to go as if she sacrificed herself for the other chickens. I was sad that she was the only one taken that night. Eventually we lost the other ones. This is why we started over with a new coop. It’s no fun to lose your chickens.

Family and friends told me I should write a book about CC’s adventures. I can see in my mind’s eye a children’s series about CC. But until then, blogging about her will have to do.

***UPDATE*** OK, I went outside to take a picture of the chicken addition and the chicken run. I was thinking as I took the first picture, “wouldn’t it be funny if that rooster was back in with the other chickens.” I took a closer look and sure enough, there he was. I couldn’t believe he was ruining my story! No, really, he just made it a happy ending. And I am happy that he is back in the flock.

Chicken Run. This is when I noticed that we again had three roosters back in the flock. They are in the middle behind the tree.

Three roosters by the door that lets them out into the chicken run. The middle rooster is the one that finally figured out how to get back in with the other chickens.