We have had the 4 chooks now since last September, and you can review their arrival by watching Chicken Day – The Movie! It still cracks me up watching it. All are doing well and today I saw the most hilarious thing that I just must share. I was resting in the garden this afternoon on my lazy chair and Bunty, our largest ISA Brown hen decided that she was going to enter the Chicken Olympics and enter the high jump.
So, I built a gate about a metre tall about 5 weeks ago during the chicken house renovation, and it has taken her this long to figure out that with a long run up and a lot of flapping, she can just get on top, perch for a few seconds and then jump down the other side. Sounds a bit like the Chicken Run movie, doesn’t it, with all those girls on bicycles in their plane? Then all the other chickens look through the fence as Bunty then proceeds to find all the nice bugs, worms and weeds up the other end of the garden. I can tell when she has vaulted, because the other three hens make such a fuss, it is hard to miss, and she has been doing it for about a week now.
Anyway, that is not the funny part, this is. I added another 70cm to the top of the gate this afternoon, and as usual Bunty started her run up with wings flapping and launched, then bang! Straight into the extra bit on the top of the gate and fell flat on her big fluffy bum. It was hilarious! I laughed so hard that I nearly wet myself, really. She tried twice more until she gave up and I still couldn’t stop laughing. I suppose she will now be in her little gym trying to loose a few 100 grams so that she can get into the other part of the garden again!
As the old adage goes. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence (until you get there of course and look back to what you have left behind)!
Gavin
Wouldn’t the world be a wonderful place if we all had chickens to watch everyday.
daisymum
Oh, Gavin, I am laughing so hard at that chicken of yours!
Thanks for sharing 🙂
LOL, we have 3 chooks that do the same thing, and theyre about to get a similar surprise, we are netting the top of the pen! I expect to find one dangling from the netting soon!
Priceless! I would have loved to have seen that.
Fortunately for our chooks they’ve never tried to jump our fence (they free range the front yard). If they do they’re on their own. I have no intention of running around the street trying to catch them.
We have a fig tree planted to give them some shade, in one of our chook pens, but they learned to use it as a ladder to get over the fence.
Thanks for the comments ladies. Even though chickens have brains the size of a broad bean, they are clever little birds and are always fun to watch as they go about their daily routine. I agree with DaisyMum, everyone should have a few chooks to make them laugh now and then.
Gav