…to outsmart a chicken!
When I retired in 2006, I began raising brown-egg chickens. Why? Because I just like doing raising brown-egg chickens…
A laying chicken is only productive for 2 years or so. After that, a hen will continue to lay, but the production drops off significantly. So, every two years or so I will “re-hen” the house.
Late last fall, Harry and I bought 81 chickens to re-hen our respective coops. Harry bought 75, I bought 6. We bought them as chicks then took them to John Miller to raise. John is an Amish guy who raises chickens. Two weeks ago we went over to John’s and brought them home.
When you introduce new birds into the flock, often the older ones will beat the hell out of the new guys. I won’t tolerate “bullies” in my flock!
To make room for the new guys, I ship the old ones out… This year one of them “got loose.” For two weeks now she has been eluding me when I tried to catch her. Then I discovered she likes to roost up here by the house at night.
So, here I am this morning, out cleaning my shop. It was still dark outside when it occurred to me that the old hen might be roosting out front. So, I grabbed a flashlight, went out on my porch and there she was! And I got her!
Taking her out to the coop, I thought to myself, “Oh how sweet it is – to outsmart a chicken!”