Monday, November 12, 2007

Fencing as a state of mind



We fenced up the chickens recently, enclosing them in a large area of the yard behind some deer netting.

Last week, I was harvesting more spuds, this time in the greenhouse beds. The greenhouse is adjacent to the chickens' area. Bloody Beatrice let me know that, in no uncertain terms, their cage is really just a state of mind. She saw that I was digging up the dirt, and therefore had to join me.

The chickens were very young last year when they learned that a kneeling me with a trowel in my hands means there are worms and other goodies to be had. I have never been able to dissuade them otherwise. It's actually fairly amusing. It makes things like bulb-planting rather difficult (last year I had four birds vying for the gleanings). But I do enjoy the company.

And within no time, Beatrice's sister Bonnie made her way through the fence to "help" me.

7 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

How funny. In my minds eye I can see your chickens vying for grubs that you dig up. Just flip one toward them and watch them bustle to get it. tee hee...

Julie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Julie said...

oops. Sorry. My OCD kicked in and I couldn't leave a misspelled word. What I said was....

I live in the city, but we have a couple of chickens just the same. (Shhh, don't tell!) Anyway, our buff Orpington, Muffin, was raised by hand and thinks she is a lap dog. When I am out in the yard, she follows me around just like that. I think it is cute. I love having a pet chicken.

Laurene said...

Makes me miss my girls. :(

Pattie Baker said...

Don't get me started!

Robin (Bumblebee) said...

LOVE those chickens! Why is she called Bloody Beatrice?

--Robin (Bumblebee)

El said...

Lisa: Yep, though it's mainly worms that they absolutely love!

Julie: Okay, that cracks me up (deleting a comment because of spelling). But yeah, these two, BB and Bonnie, are definitely lap-dog material. And pet chickens lay great benefits!

Artemisia: Sorry!

Pattie: Well, maybe you can move out of your neighborhood one of these days to a chicken-friendly burg. They ARE fun.

Robin: She is always the first to a meal, always the first to find mice, voles, toads, frogs...quite disgusting, but (at least for the rodents) it's a habit I admire in her. Bonnie is a close second in the bloodbath, though.