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Crazy Chickens

September 25th, 2013

Our broiler flock is CRAZY. This coming week we’ll be butchering all the roosters (we’ve already butchered a few). There are five lucky ladies that will be integrated into our laying flock, a few of them are already laying eggs.
chickens in apple tree 4
chickens in apple tree 3
chickens in apple tree 5
These chickens decided long ago that roosting in the old apple tree was much more fun than roosting in the portable coop we built them, go figure. I don’t worry much because they’re surrounded by an electric fence to keep them safe from predators. They love roosting in the tree so much, that the other day I found an egg perched perfectly on one of the branches.
egg on tree branch 2
egg on tree branch
Chickens are crazy animals, but entertaining as well. Hopefully when the ladies are moved to our new flock they’ll decide roosting in the coop is much nicer, we shall see. At least our main laying flock coops up nicely every night.

Do your pets every do anything crazy?

5 Comments to “Crazy Chickens”
  1. DebbieB on September 25, 2013 at 7:53 am

    I had no idea that eggs grew on trees! I’m city-folk, don’tcha know. ;)

    Reply to DebbieB's comment

  2. Adriana on September 25, 2013 at 7:57 am

    Our ducks lay where ever they want. Sometimes right outside the porch. When they do lay in their house, they make a little nest NEXT to the nesting boxes we put in for them. Our dog is scared of all creatures large and small: rodents, reptiles, poultry, you name it…
    I really enjoyed your last podcast. We went to the Common Ground Fair two years ago and really enjoyed it. Wished we could have seen more. Hopefully we will make it next year!

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  3. Teresa on September 25, 2013 at 9:07 am

    Our guineas used to coop with our chickens, it was wonderful because we never had to worry about them. Egg laying on the other hand.. who knows where they did that…

    Reply to Teresa's comment

  4. Nebraska Dave on September 25, 2013 at 9:31 am

    Susy, we had a crazy cat once. Her name was Casey May. She was the only cat that I know that would jump off the couch and not land on her feet but just plop on her side. I don’t think she was quite all there in the balance department. She was a fighter though. We had a cat killer dog that roamed the neighborhood just looking for cats. He wandered into our yard one day and challenged Casey. She went for a ride on his face with all four claws. He never came in our yard again. She was an awesome mouser too. Every fall we would find dead mice and snakes displayed on the back steps with a proud look on her face. She definitely terrorized the two dogs we had but in a good playful way. It was comical to watch a dog and a cat wrestle around on the floor. When Casey had enough she would just jump up high on something the dogs couldn’t reach. It was a little un nerving to wake up in the morning and see a cat sitting in the headboard with her face just inches away from my face just staring at me. Oh, yeah, and she didn’t like baths either. I still have vivid memories of the time my wife thought it would be a good idea to give her a bath. Not a good idea.

    Have a great dog homestead integration day.

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  5. Myra S. on September 25, 2013 at 10:32 am

    That hen has good balance to lay an egg on a branch and not fall off herself! This summer one of our comets decided to roost on the rototiller’s handlebars. I put her back in the coop. She was not happy with me. The next night, I found her roosting on the tongue of the boat trailer scooted back under the boat’s tarp. I waited until it was nearly dark when I knew she’d be settled in and calm, snuck up on her and carried her back to the coop. She snuggled up against me as we walked and I explained to her the safety of the coop. We didn’t let her out for a couple days after that and we’ve had no more curfew violations. She definitely clucks to the beat of a different drum.

    Reply to Myra S.'s comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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