It’s a busy morning here on the Homestead! I thought you might enjoy a quick update on some of our sillier animals.
We’ll start with the silliest of them, Patience the Kitten. I’m going to have to start calling him Patience the Cat because he weighs at least 12 pounds now! He still has more energy than anyone else around here. Patience carries chicken feathers around the house, runs around loudly (earning him the nickname of “Thundercat”) and periodically climbs my leg. I’m not sure where he is trying to go when he does that, but he does it enthusiastically with all twelve pounds of himself!
Patience, the Gigantic Kitten
Mr. Pickles, on the other hand, has developed the very catlike habit of going to sleep around 3PM and sleeping until 8PM. Sometimes I join him for the first leg of that nap, but I don’t have the stamina to do the whole thing.
When Pickles isn’t sleeping, he’s studying. The main topic of this latest part of his education is water dripping from faucets. He’ll watch it for hours, trying to decide if he should catch the drops as they fall or attack them when they hit the side of the sink. I like to watch him rhythmically wave his paws at the drops, as if he was conducting a symphony.
He hasn’t figured out yet why his ears always get wet when he goes after this particular prey, but that’s part of the challenge I suppose.
Why are my ears wet?
Moving to the backyard, the chicken drama has calmed down a bit. Since I released Marshmallow from Solitary Chicken Confinement, she has found a way to integrate herself into the world of the Red Chickens. I suspect she is still vying with Redhead for the position of Head Chicken, but she now has a flock and since Redhead is a pretty formidable chicken herself, I don’t worry much about bullying.
Marshmallow, wondering if I am going to give them more snacks.
And then we have my little Garage chicken, Roxanne. Roxanne continues to spend her nights in the garage. I bring her out in the morning and someone in the household gives her almond bits and talks to her before letting the others out of the coop.
I believe we, the Monkeys, are her flock now. Every evening, I bring her in and she sits in my lap for a while before climbing on her stepladder roost.
“If you give that chicken everything she wants, she won’t respect you,” says a member of the household.
“I don’t feel a need to have the respect of chickens,” I respond.
Roxanne may think she is the Head Chicken of the garage. That’s okay. Maybe that will give her some confidence with the other chickens.
Roxanne enjoys her mornings.
We all have our own journey and lessons to learn, whether it’s drying our ears, developing confidence with the others or managing a household of lively animals into peacefulness.
Enjoy your journey today!
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Shared with…
I wish I’d had a garage to put my poor Gertie in when I brought my sister’s chickens to live with mine. Both flocks picked on her unmercifully and it was a few weeks before they let her eat and stopped pecking her when she came near them. That’s the last time I merge flocks!
Poor Gertie! I wish they weren’t so mean to each other. I keep chasing the reds away from little Roxanne and this morning I made them stay in the coop. Luckily, she feels comfortable with her flockmate Marshmallow, so I let Marshmallow out to keep her company. Maybe a few days in Chicken Jail will give the reds time to think about their behavior and reform.
Thanks for linking up with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop. You GO, Roxanne!! ♥ lol
Kathy Shea Mormino
The Chicken Chick
Things are getting better for Roxanne. She grew more feathers and now that she’s Queen of the Garage, she seems to have more confidence. The Red Chickens aren’t so mean to her now.