PRACTICAL PARSIMONY: Meaner than a junkyard chicken

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Meaner than a junkyard chicken

A friend and I were sitting at the junkyard, waiting to recycle cans. Of course, my chicken radar was working. There was a lone, banty (bantam) hen wandering about.

Now that I have a blog, my camera is on my person at all times. I don't want to miss a photo op! So, I hauled out the camera and got out of the car, grabbing a half dozen of the pecans halves I had carried in a container for a snack.

"Here, chick, chick." She turned and saw the crumbled pecans dropping and headed my way, slowly. I had to back up before she would come very far. As you can see, she never came very close.

One of the guys came back from lunch. "How many chickens do you have here?" " "I have never seen it before." Well, if he works here and has never seen it, maybe the hen is just a day tripper.

I just have to know. Another guy came back from lunch. "How many chickens do you have here?" His index finger came up. "Oh, where did you get it?" "It just showed up here a few weeks ago. It's a junkyard chicken." You could just tell he was amused at what he said.

Now, I wonder if she goes home at night. Or, if she left home for good.

waaay back where she can run away from me

See the black Beautification Award sign?

I go to a well-kempt, pretty junkyard.

Your turn

Okay, it is your turn to go awwww! Kidding. Have you ever seen a junkyard chicken?

4 comments:

LindaMMarch 24, 2011 at 5:58 AM
Thats just so funny:) One of my sons friends called us in a panic not long ago. His parents were already gone to work when he got up for school. He headed to the bathroom to take a shower but found a rooster waiting for him there! His dad had found it walking the streets the night before and didn't bother to tell anybody! LOL !
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LindaMarch 24, 2011 at 8:50 PM
LindaM,
THAT would be a shocker, even to me. Since I am half-asleep in the morning, I would think it was a dream. I would be in a panic.
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LindaMMarch 25, 2011 at 5:12 AM
I hope you feel better soon! there is a video on youtube regarding some simple excercises for shoulder pain that has worked for me. If I find it again, I'll let you know.
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LindaMarch 25, 2011 at 9:23 AM
Thanks, By tomorrow, I may be up to exercise. I can use the left hand a bit without shrieking and moaning. Washing my armpits will be my goal for today...LOL. I just my day's worth of cortisone--6 tablets.
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Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.

The Cast

Fancy is my favorite hen. She is one of the three youngest hens I adopted. Because she is so gentle and friendly, she may be the one I rescued when she was being pecked to death after she could no longer stand. She got to live in the house in a box. Sometimes, I let her sit in my lap while she was convalescing. Now, she comes to sit in the swing with me, cuddling up to my body like a cat or dog. She died in February 2012.

Fancy follows me begging, complaining, needing me to do for her. She talks to me in various voices. She allows me to pick her up and carry her. When she became an adult, her head was a darker red and her body was light brown. Around her neck were tips of black feathers. It appeared she had a necklace of jet around her neck. When I showed this characteristic to a friend, he said, "Oh, you have fancy chickens and plain chickens."

Chessie has a broken toe. I broke it! She had a habit of jumping really high and almost sticking. A raccoon ate her in October 2009.

Thelma is the blonde. She is also the largest hen and the alpha hen. I suspect the gigantic eggs are from her. She often squats and presents herself to me. She is top hen, but I suspect she knows she had better be deferent to top feeder of the flock--me.

Louise is the auburn-feathered hen. She looks like the true Rhode Island Reds in pictures. She is almost as large as Thelma. Some days I suspect she is trying to be top chicken. When I got Pepper, I found out Louise is the Alpha hen.

Pepper came here from the same home as the first four. We were discussing putting red pepper on their food, wondering if it really would increase egg production. Pepper is the only name we agreed on. She is terrorized each day by Louise. Even after the worst was over, she was and is still filled with terror and very wary.

Linda is owned by four hens. They allow her to fetch for them. She loves them dearly, so she allows them to boss her around. Linda comes out in the rain to perform chores for them and make sure they have food and water. She begs scraps from all sorts of places to make sure they have fresh fruits and vegetables.

Parsimony is not a vegetable

Parsimony is extreme care in spending money. Stick around and learn about my random thoughts on accomplishing goals economically--dumpster diving aka safari, gleaning, do-it-yourself, sewing tips, recipes, and whatever is happening in my life.

Okay so maybe "parsimony" is not your thing. How about thrift, frugality or just plain saving money? I try not to go the tightwad route as that seems to imply others will suffer from my habits.

Some of my not-spending habits have very much been a part of my lifelong habits. Other habits are newly acquired and are an extension of my lifelong not-spending habits.

I am very imaginative when it comes to substituting or making instead of buying. I will tell you about making a heater for the chickens' water. Not one dime was spent since I had everything I needed right in my basement.

Practicality must rear its head alongside parsimony. For example, I will use the dryer in bad weather or because of allergies in the spring. But, I will not wash clothes in a tub as long as I have a washing machine or can find one.

You may hear more about my four Rhode Island Red hens than you care to hear. They lay delicious brown eggs.

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Meaner than a junkyard chicken

4 comments: