I've been wanting to use that title ever since we decided to get chickens.
It's the only time a middle class, 40 something, suburbanite white chick can say that and get away with it!
The topic for today is 'Perching.' Can you say 'perching' boys and girls?
Chicken factoid here...you have to teach chickens how to perch on a piece of wood.
OK, if they grew up with their actual chicken mom them they would learn from her and the other hens.
But, since I am their 'Mother Hen' I have to teach them to perch.
That was yesterday's lesson.
But first we had to redo their brooder box A.K.A 'The Chicken Condo Deluxe' designed and built by my husband. They are growing so quickly that they were starting to get stressed in the little box we had started them out in.
You may be asking...how do you know when a chicken is stressed?
First they start to complain that all they ever get to see is the same 4 walls and it's the same food day in and day out. Nothing ever changes.
OK, for the real answer, they start to peck at each other and jostle for space either to sleep or while at the feeder. They also get more vocal. Their little peeps and chirps get louder and higher pitched and more distressed sounding.
So once again, my husband (The Head Rooster) comes to the rescue and turns our no longer being used dog crate into a second room addition for 'The Girls.' This is no little dog crate. We purchased it for our German Shepard puppy, Bruce, a couple years back. German Shepard puppies become big dogs so we got the super deluxe size to accommodate him as he grew up. This crate was big enough for Bruce and I to be in it at the same time.
Don't ask me how I know this...let's just say I know.
Short version of the story is that Bruce HATED being in his crate so it has been re-purposed into a chicken condo.
Now 'The Girls' have double the space and two rooms which to run around and contemplate their little chicken lives. I'm sure they contemplate things like....'When will the giant head come back and give us more food?' Or 'Was Einstein on to something with the 'Theory of Everything?'
Back to perching....
Here is the fun part about teaching chickens to perch.
First you gently pick up a screaming chicken and then hold them above the perch until their little chicken feet touch the perch. After they have grabbed onto the perch you let go...and watch as the little chicken falls off the perch. Once you stop laughing, you pick up same chicken and repeat the process until she does not fall off. This takes 2 or 4 times or for the slower ones...98 times. Repeat this little procedure with a couple more chicks. Cool chicken factoid....once you teach a couple of chickens to perch, the other ones watch and mimic those taught to perch, so you really only need to show a few. It's kind of like 'Chicken See, Chicken do.'
Before anyone turns me in for chicken cruelty, I want you know that the perch is only a couple of inches above the floor, so they do not fall far.
You may ask 'Chicken Chica, why do chickens need to learn to perch?'
Glad you asked. First of all, they are chickens and that's one of the things chickens do. Besides eating, sleeping, peeping and pooping...they perch. Perching and sleeping go wing in wing. (Chicken humor..stay with me folks).
Chickens feel safe when they are up higher. They are less vulnerable to predators and are off the floor where it is warmer and drier.
Here is the cute part...when I went out at night to check on 'The Girls' last night two of them were sleeping on the perch. (I am so proud!) One had her head tucked under her wing. What a good little chicken! But the other one hung her head over the side of the perch until her beak touched the ground. I guess some of my Girls are a little smarter than the others, but I love them all the same.
Hope all you Moms out there had a good Mother's Day. (Remember you're a Mom if your 'kids' are two or four legged or furry, feathered or scaly!) Love them all!
Final though of the day.....aren't you glad you don't have to sleep on a stick?
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