Waiting on Chickens

Coming in from using my new Bolens weeder, after all those days of rain, wanting a shower or at least to get rid of the bits of grass down my shirt. It's nearly nine p.m. and I'm hungry. What I'm waiting on is for the chickens to get in their coop.

Betty and Rupert now have a nice fenced run, but they need to be tucked into Fort Flocks for the night. The sun is setting later and later and they stay out until it's nearly dark. I can chase them around the yard but it upsets them and frustrates me. Threats that I will leave the door open and let the raccoon bite off their heads doesn't seem to faze them.

Before I made their run, I tried to catch the rooster once to take him up to the garden U-Scratch cage. He squawked and flew around the coop hysterically. He's really too big for flight in close quarters.

Only once has he flown out of the run. I was able to leave the gate open and entice Betty back into the coop, so he strutted around and rejoined us there.

One night shortly after that I thought I heard him fly completely away, but it turned out to be a pair of Mourning Doves exiting the nearby tree.

                                       So, here they are  without the flash

and with the flash. My camera indicated it would be using Red-Eye Protection, which seemed pointless with chickens, who have red eyes. They never use the nice roost I built for them, preferring to cuddle in the corner.

I do have to go out later and feed the wild cat who comes after dark, but I can always do that in my nightgown and rubber boots. A plus of living in the country is I can hear cars coming for miles, and out back there are no houses, roads or people.