leah, the chickens just need more reassurance that the food will reappear. :)

I hope you recover quickly.

LOL! Tell those chickens to get off of their chicken butts and eat some bugs, otherwise you may show them a whole new perspective regarding dinner & food.--Chicken pot pie, fried chicken, baked chicken, chicken parmigana (sp?), chicken soup, chicken tetrazini, chicken mushroom casserole... MMMMM!

Hope you heal quickly & well!

All animals are capable of expressing emotion and
birds are actually very expressive of theirs. I think
you just have enough time lately to notice how they
communicate. A parrot named Alex has changed the way
scientists think about the capacity of birds to reason,
express themselves, and notice things. His person taught
him to talk, add and subtract, answer questions that
require making logical descisions, and make choices between
items. Your chickens may be smarter than you think. And
yeah, they may not be compassionate. Think about what their
social lives are like, compared to,say, geese.

Leah, that's funny. (Hope your recuperation time is short.) Demanding chickens. I have demanding song birds, hummingbirds, and an old dog. I know darn well their eyes are on my every move to see if I make the magical "refill the food dish" motions. No sooner do I fill the birdfeeders and walk in the house, they're there. Same with the squirrels. I know they were watching me as soon as I hit the door to go outside. The forest has eyes, and I'm not on any medication! If the dog's dish isn't filled by 6:30 PM, I get frantic leaping around and an operatic howl. I taught her to do this little cry for supper, at first it was cute, now it's out of hand. But that kind of comic performance lowers blood pressure.

You are necessary to the scheme of things.

Yukon Gold, What part of Michigan are you from? I was born in Marquette.
I know it sounds like I'm complaining about the chickens, because I love them. This morning I got up early and sat by the open front door and fed them bread.
Soon my tomatoes will be ripe and then they will be fed. All beautiful heirloom tomatoes...They also ate my strawberries, I haven't grown a strawberry to maturity in years, they also love pea flowers. They're eggs are really good. (when they aren't hiding them in the poison ivy)

First, to answer your question, yes, too many.
Second and third and so on..... I love it, I have bluejays, hummers, a 12 year old cockateal named Woodstock, a wolf/dog named Cody, and an overgrown, overfed, and, acording to him, grossly under loved cat named Boo. All of them are demanding a treat, food, love or whatever their thing of the moment is, before I even get coffee on, let alone dressed.

Hi, Leah. Sorry for the delayed response. Hope you see it. Let's just say N. Michigan now, but born in Ohio. So you are a Yooper. I chuckled at Da Yoopers Tourist Trap in Ishpeming. I like Copper Country, but haven't been able to find an unburned pasty. How are you progressing on healing?

Hi Leah! I too have both a pond AND chickens. Chickens are the cutest yard art, don't you think? I know what you mean about their language. You will have time while you are healing to get to know their special "talk". Maybe you can make an extra serving of oatmeal and take your leftovers out to the birds. Hope you are getting around better these days.

Cindy

Leah, I wanted to wish you a speedy recovery. I have arthritis in my spine and I know what you mean about the painkiller thing. Your post made me think of something I just had to tell though.

My aunt used to raise banty (I don't know if that is the proper spelling) chickens. She was a whiz with all animals and they all loved her. Kind of like the "horse Whisperer." Anyway she had this one little hen she named Rosie. It was back before much air conditioning and in the summer she left the front door open. She had a little basket inside the front screen door that went into the hallway. When Rosie got ready to lay an egg she would come and scratch on the screen and Aunt Maggie would let her in and she would lay her egg in the basket, then she would cackle and Aunt Maggie would let her go back out. I've often wondered how she trained her to do that.

Yukon,
You should take a trip down here for the pastys, I think that at last count there were 12 or 14 commercial kitchens putting them out as well as a bunch of great homemade ones.
Beverly,
Are you wondering about the hen or the aunt doing the training, around here the animals have me well trained to the point of using sign language to tell me what is up with them.

LOL Chef Wil, I'm not sure who did the training. I had always thought it was Aunt Maggie, but now that you mention it, maybe it was Rosie.

Yes, birds are a lot smarter than commonly thought, even chickens. I used to keep pet hens. They'd sit, and sometimes actually lay, on my lap and stretch their necks out, eyes closed, to be petted. They came running to be picked up every time I went outside, literally leaping into my hands. People got such a kick out of seeing that. I still have pet birds but not chickens. Birds intelligence is amazing, and they have quite a bit of ability to communicate. We feed wild birds, too. Watching them is fascinating.

Have enjoyed these chicken stories. Don't have any but we know the wild birds communicate with one another.

They do, especially the blue jays and starlings.
I am amazed at how varied the blue jay's voices are. They imitate hawks and I think they are conversing about a hawk somehow. One time I was sitting quietly outside and this blue jay didn't know I was there, and he was just singing and chatting to himself. He was completely uninhibited and unaware. Then he noticed me and he just froze and flew away.

I really like the way you write and I have read your story several times for a laugh because it truly describes chickens so well!
Last Spring I had a blue heron who visited my pond. Herons feed standing and there is no "standandeat" area by the pond. The sight of the fish just must have driven him or her crazy so he took to sitting on the porch railing facing into the computer room where I sat each day as if to demand his share of easy to catch fish!

No deffinitley not to much vicodan!
Let us think about the term HENPECKING. Those Chickens can be the bi#*%iest things on earth when they feel neglected. I had a few free range hens that decided that my herb box planter was all theirs. They scratched it all up and ate everything in it, then decided to roost there. Sure it was easy to get the eggs but where to grow the herbs?

Hi Leah,No,you are fine.I had some concerns cuz I was on painkillers for 8 years after having cancer(complications,scar tissue) and I thot god! what is this doing to my liver?but pharmacist said I could take them rest of life if I had to as long as you do it as prescribed.Then I quit worrying about it.I was able to start doing some things in the yard but at first it was only like 5 minutes then exaustion would set in and back in the bed I would go.So you are gunna have to take it slow.Also dont fall into the trap of"I am not having any pain right now(covered up by painkillers),so I will go play in the yard.I did that and then in the bed again for a few more days,It is agony when you cant play in the yard and you want to,maybe just going out and sitting and drawing plans is best to start.Have a cup of tea and enjoy just being there amongst the beauty.Then you will have to just learn how much you can do.also order all the garden catalogs you can just to have some pretty pix for when u are flat on your back,hope you recover well,take care and god bless!judi

hahahahah...your humour is refreshing Leah, a Canadian newbie to this site
Faye...aka Ldymacearle

Leah, you made a lot of people laugh and you are a good storyteller. Let's hear from you again. By now you must be pain free?

tell those chickens to go have a prozac moment, or whatever floats their boat. They WILL get over it, I promise :-)