Wet Hens

No camera=no picture

Last night, I went to bed very early, about 11 pm. So, I awoke at just before 4 am and got up and sat, reading blogs. At 6 am, I decided to go back to bed. No luck sleeping. Then, I remembered a payment I had to make on the 10th or pay a penalty of $28 on $61. I jumped from the bed, jumped in clothes, ran a pick through my hair, wrote a check and left in a hurry.

As I opened the door, I heard the hens. They were right outside the door! I know I locked them up last night. There was no time to secure them or feed them. They started begging and following me to the front yard. Feeding never happens in the front yard; I throw pine cones to make them go back; I honk the horn to get them to go back. So, they lost interest in following me this morning once I dashed to the front yard.

On the way back a crack of thunder and flash of lightning immediately preceded the skies opening up. I wondered where the hens took refuge. They have a favorite  bush for rainy times.

As I ran to the house, trying to dodge little streams in the yard, I did not see them. Dashing up the front porch, I finally did. All three were pressed against the door, waiting for me. As they plead their case, they finally allowed me to get to the door. Then, they stormed the doorway as I stepped up and inside the door I unlocked.

At times like these, I just want to go ahead and let them in. But, then I reconsider and think maybe I should put them in their night cage and let them stay dry and warm inside. I am getting soft in the head as I get older. No, they are still on the porch, talking through the door to me.

They will stay there and poop all over!!!!  Newspaper will be put over the poop and DE until I can properly clean it. There is no use cleaning it one poop at a time al day long. Exbf will be here soon, so the paper needs to go down so he won't have to navigate the poopfield that my porch will become. sigh....sigh.

Chickens can be so dumb and infuriating...like, why can she not find the door on her pen that she goes in and out of every day? No, she goes round and round two sides, back and forth, desperately putting her head in the chain link as though this link might magically be larger than the last 20 places she tried.

It only takes them two days to learn a new home. It took them that long to come to the door to be put away in the cage after the raccoon attack in October 2010. For two days, I had to pry them out of their Rubbermaid boxes, stuff them, squawking, into the cage and carry all three in the cage up the stairs and into the house. After those two days, they came willingly and jumped in the cage.

They know where they sleep now--in the fortified pen. They just prefer the dryness and warmth of the house. Poor girls. Maybe someday I can make them a not-windy enclosure inside the fortified pen where they will not get damp from blowing rain and become chilled.

Chickens are so endearing. I love them--Thelma, Louise, and Fancy.

If I lived outdoors in a blue box, I would try my best to talk my way into a warm house. Wouldn't you? Well, this house is cold, but it is warm compared to a box outdoors.

Exbf arrived. As we sat here, I kept hearing a noise. I finally looked and they had left. On the porch was an uneaten apple from the bag of apples I scrounged for them. They helped themselves. Cute.

Dinner: roast chicken, potatoes, cabbage, cucumbers
This afternoon I put 8 leg-thigh quarters and a thigh into a turkey baking bag with celery, onion, salt and pepper to roast. In a stock pot four leg-thigh quarters and a thigh boiled away. Exbf ate one for dinner. I had just a bit of meat.

I cooked a head of cabbage with a bit of salt. Cabbage was $.39/lb. Yum, it was so good. When I got the chicken produce today, I was thrilled because I have been wanting potatoes. In the box: four onions, mostly good and about three pounds of potatoes. I salvaged cucumbers for him. He picked out three of the apples from yesterday's bought box of apples.

He took home a divided dinner plate, Tupperware, with leg-thigh quarter, cabbage, oven-cooked potatoes. He is thrilled. Besides that, he took a bag with 6 leg-thigh quarters and a thigh, enough for thirteen meals of meat.

The other 4 leg-thigh quarters are destined to become chicken and dumplings. For the next few nights, the temperature will be about 10 degrees below freezing, so chicken and dumplings will warm me nicely.  The kitchen beckons me to come back and cook more.

I still have chicken breasts I cooked last Wednesday, so those will be frozen shortly. By the way, the ten-lb bag of chicken breasts said it held 26 servings. That's about what I figured when I cooked these.

The chickens will receive the ample pieces of fat, gristle, skin, and bones to eat. All the broth from the baking pan will be theirs, added to rice or pasta or cornmeal. They are going to be soooo happy!

There is no picture because I cannot find my camera.

Your turn
Would you like chickens coming to your door and pooping, begging to get in? Or, do yours stay in a pen. Surely you find joy in your chickens personalities? Are you meals getting cozy-like as the weather gets cooler?