Yes yes, more talk about chickens. Sorry!
We needed to find a new home for Francine. (Formerly Mean Francine, occasionally Franny.) Fran was our oldest chicken, the only remainder from the 2020 flock. We just loved her too much to get rid of her. Problem was, Francine was so freaking LOUD. She was the earliest to rise, and as soon as she did, she'd commence her request to exit the coop by pretty much screaming. She also tried to sound like a rooster. Her obnoxious squawking lasted all day. And if we lived out in the middle of nowhere we'd just get used to her I guess. But we kind of live in fear of making the neighbors angry. One complaint to the city could really be trouble for us. We decided it was time to find her a new home.
Instead of driving to Orem like I have a few times now, I looked again for another place to take in hens. And I found a magical farm. There's this guy named Gil. When I got on the phone with him, he said, "Hi. This is Gil. Gil stands for God is Love." Well hello Gil! This old farmer just doesn't want animals to get killed and he takes them all in. He is the guy to call if you want a petting zoo at your birthday party or if a fair needs an animal show-and-tell. He just takes them all. He's not totally out in the country, but he's out of the way a little. When I asked him if his neighbors minded the roosters he told me that his farm is next to a cemetery and the residents don't seem to mind too much.
So once again, I loaded a chicken into a bucket in my car and drove off to some little random place to deposit a chicken. What made me happy was that when I met Gil, he took Francine into his arms and said, "Oh a sebrite!" Yes sir he knows his chickens. I felt better. Not great, but still better.
Hopefully Franny is still living her best and really loud life with Farmer Gil.
In the meantime, I have been working really hard to get this new flock comfortable with people, and more friendly than the last bunch. I know the secret. Dried mealworms. Chickens LOVE this treat, and it turns out, if you fill a cup with them and sit on the ground and sprinkle them around, chickens shed all skittishness and basically climb onto your lap and let you pet them while they gobble them up. This is the most tame flock we have ever had. And we are discovering that there can be too much of a good thing. Those gals will flock right up to you and crowd in around your ankles every time you step outside. But I'd rather have friendly birds that like me than a clean porch and freedom to step outside, I guess.
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