EMERGENCY!!!

Christmas card 2006
Elizabeth, holding Casey, the almost Siamese.
Me, holding Gertrude, my other hen turned rooster.
Lauren, holding nothing.

Remember my chickens? I'll refresh your memory. 2 older chickens and 3 youngsters. Out of the 3 little ones, I knew Guinevere and Francesca were boys although they had not yet crowed, so I would only be able to keep Chloe - the little blond. The new home for the boys was not ready and they had such great personalities that I was in no hurry to see them go, but I knew it was only a matter of time.

I came home from work yesterday and let the birds out as usual. I started cleaning my house in anticipation of weekend guests and a "decorate for the parade" party the following night - when I heard, "peep, peep, peep, EERRAAACK!!" I burst outside crying, "What are you doing????!!!" Guinevere had picked yesterday afternoon to give crowing a try. When a rooster first crows it's much like a boy's voice cracking as he becomes a man. And once a rooster experiences his first crow he wants to keep practicing!

So here I've spent the last week telling the world that backyard chickens are less intrusive than many typical pets and now, of all times, my little girl starts to crow. I grabbed him and put him in the house, put a cage in the car, grabbed the other potential crower and put him in the house. What to do...what to do... I called their new owner & left a message. "I have to move my roosters out NOW. Call me back." I got them in the car and was plotting their escape when I heard Chloe freaking out in the back yard. She is not capable of being very loud, but she was giving it her best shot. The 3 little birds were a team, and Chloe, as the most vulnerable, depended on the 2 guys. All the while, Guinevere was in my car practicing his new found voice. I put another cage in the car and went to get Chloe - which was not as easy as anticipated given the chaos.

OK, finally (it actually all happened in less than 15 minutes) I was on the road, top down, dust from the cages flying, chickens ruffled, me on my phone calling for back up.

"Sanford, I have an emergency!"
Brief pause.
"Guinevere Crowed! I have to get her out of my yard ASAP!"

"Do you have a cage?", "Ok, you can bring them out."
"Good, thing - I'm already on my way..."

I sang to the birds on the way there to calm them down - just as I used to do with my children when they were little girls.

I have some great friends who live on a large tract of protected land a few miles outside of town. They are committed to living a quiet, sustainable life and at least two of them raise chickens. I knew somebody would take mine in for a few days until they could movefrom the "safe house" into their permanent home. (Perhaps it will be necessary to change their names for their protection.)

Sanford's chickens are regular chicken size and his rooster is quite a big boy. He's just beautiful - proud and regal with long graceful tail feathers. As I've mentioned before, my little ornamental birds can't be readily mixed in with a new flock. So we set my cage of 3 in Sanford's yard and his birds came around to check them out. My little guys were VERY excited! Nothing like visit to the country!

As dusk came and his chickens started going into their house for the night, it was time for Chloe and I to go home too. We said our good byes and pulled away.

The next morning Sanford called and said Guinevere and Francesca were doing great. They were very happy, ate out of his hand and the big rooster was hanging out with them showing them the ropes. They were still in their cage, but happy as could be.

Back home things were not so good. Antoinette was causing quite a ruckus. She was clucking around like she actually missed the little boys. Chloe, as usual, was confused. I ended up having to put Antoinette in my kitchen. Can't have these chickens clucking up the neighborhood - especially after I've promised they're quiet! This evening things had settled down considerably. A couple of things I have learned about chickens - they're much smarted than I could have guessed, but they have SHORT TERM MEMORIES!