A cautionary tale: Due to the extremely cold weather I brought the baby chicks the house. Most mornings they’re up before I am and I can hear them playing and chattering to each other. It’s both annoying and super cute. It’s annoying because I don’t need to get up that early. Chickens are hardcore early risers. Like a lot of people, chickens tend to sit in bed having their version of pillow talk before they officially start their day. They can do this for hours. I generally lay there in my warm bed and listen to these tiny birds discussing who-knows-what. They’re probably talking about me. Anyway, yesterday morning there was silence – which is always suspicious.
As I approached their brooder I realized I had neglected to close the top the night before. All but two babies were precariously perched on top as if this was perfectly acceptable behavior. At this point they hadn’t noticed me so I watched them for a minute. They were quietly talking to each other. I didn’t even know chickens could whisper.
In a low voice I asked “What do y’all think you’re doing?” I find myself asking the animals this a lot. Then five little chicken heads snapped to look at me. They immediately got quiet and froze, wide-eyed. I could tell they knew this was unacceptable behavior. And to make matters worse, all their bums were facing OUT of the brooder. It was obvious from the sheer amount of droppings on my floor they had been perched there all night. Gag. Despite their apparent awareness of their bad behavior, not one made an attempt to go back inside the brooder on their own.
They protested loudly as I placed them one by one back inside and closed the lid. Of course I made sure to express my displeasure by cuddling each one. Punishments are tough around here.
I was still missing two and figured they couldn’t be too far away. I found the first missing baby almost immediately. She apparently was unaware of the rules of silence when playing hide and seek. She was so excited to be found she made trill sounds when she saw my feet approaching. There she was under the kitchen table, perched on the leg. Back in the brooder she went, without protest.
The second baby was far more stealthy. She didn’t make a peep. Literally. I started to panic because she’s my fancy lavender girl. Then something out of place caught my eye. I noticed my tote bag in the corner. I did a double-take. There was baby girl. She was hunkered down, perched quietly on my Prada!
My emotions quickly went from relief to “Please tell me you didn’t poop on my Prada!” There wan’t enough Botox in the world to disguise my horror. I mean, look at her face, she’s emotionless. It was as if she thought “Maybe if I don’t move she won’t notice me.”
Fortunately, by some miracle, there was no poop on the Prada. Then I realized this was the photo opp of my dreams so I momentarily threw caution to the wind and took that photo above. Risky, I know.
I was proud of my fancy girl for Prada perching. And honestly, Prada and peepers are two of my favorite things…well, Gucci and Goats as well.
Needless to say, crisis averted. I won’t leave the lid off the brooder again. xo