Day 191 of 365
Last night, I had a bad dream. I dreamt that I had to give my up chickens. In my dream, we moved to an apartment, and I had to give my chickens to someone. I was in a panic. I knew my chickens would be stressed and scared, and I didn’t think anyone else could take care of them as well because they wouldn’t know their individual needs. I mean, who else is going to know what Ruby wants? Anyway, the dream was full of terrible anxiety. The last thing I remember was waking up the first morning in our apartment and hearing a rooster crowing. When I went to see why I heard a rooster, I saw that there was a house next door, and the people had a handful of chickens. When I saw the rooster, I started to cry from a broken heart because I missed my chickens. And then I woke up.
I am telling you I have never felt so happy to see my chickens in the morning, and I generally really like seeing them every single day. I felt badly for them though because it was a snow day. The first snow day is always hard on our chickens, especially the new people. I was so happy to see them, even though they were grumpy about the weather. I took them treats twice, and when I went to get the eggs, I thanked those chickens so much–and they only laid two eggs today. But that’s okay. I gave everyone who would allow it a pet. Jane is a mean chicken and pecks me every time. I still try though. And Mary Jane just lets me pet and pet her. She knows me well, and I love that.
Also, little Arwen, who has been Ruby’s sidekick since her mama Juliet ditched her at four weeks old, still can’t stay in the coop with the rest of the flock. Well, she can but chooses not to, so I assume she really just can’t.
We had to close the garage door because it’s getting too cold, so she had nowhere to hang out today. I figured she would stay in the coop with Ruby since it was bad weather, but nope. She got out somehow and hung out under Ron’s pick up all day. I took her food and water, and brought her extra treats a few times. She’s very young and a very interesting chicken. I’ll be interested in seeing how she behaves as she gets older.
Anyway, when I went outside to check on her the second time. I saw that I could see what she was up to all morning by following her tracks in the snow. She made some interesting decisions about where to go, I thought. She did come finish her treats while I was gone, but she also checked out the flower bed, the flower pot, and made various circles around the Subarau. She also had a little helper, some wild bird, eating some treats she must have left.
I love that I get to live so closely these animals. I must love them even more than I fully understand. My dream was terrible, but I woke up grateful for our chickens. I treasure getting to work with these fascinating animals.
Farmer-ish 