Sunday, July 3, 2011

Bird Brains

Late June and early July gets a little crazy around the farm since we have so many different contingents of birds hanging around.  All of them with their own needs and ... er... idiosynchracies.

To be perfectly blunt, it is at this time every year we begin to happily count down the days before we take the broilers (meat chickens) to the "park."  Of course, the layers are still around.  The ducks are ready to go out on pasture.  The turkeys are nearly ready and the baby hens are now out in their own pasture (to prevent the adult layers from 'laying' into them.

But, they do sometimes lead to interesting musings and we do make some amusing observations.

  • Not Like Clyde: We now tell our broilers to 'not be like Clyde' when they don't want to go into their shelter at night.  Still, that bird had guts.
  • Broom Bird. Speaking of putting the broilers in - we play a game I call broom bird.  No - we do not *hit* the birds with brooms.  But, we do use brooms to direct birds to their shelter.  Our waving arms don't do it anymore - but a colorful broom - that's the ticket.  
  • Ali and Frazier.  There are two birds that appear to enjoy facing off with each other more than anything else.  The spend most of their time about a foot apart in an aggressive posture...giving each other the 'evil' eye.  Occasionally, they'll move their heads up and down trying to get an advantage.  Rarely, they'll give each other chest bump and then go eat something.
  • Broiler hiccups.  Ok - they are not really hiccups.  But, the sound some of these birds are making as they attempt to learn to crow....  hiccups is about the only valid description we can come up with.
  • I can take you!  I can take you!  Never mind.   A couple of birds do try to stand their ground as we walk in their pasture area.  Wellllll, ok, they stand there until we get within a couple of feet, then they bravely run away.
  • The Beak of Doom. There aren't many flies in the broiler area.  But, every once in a while there is a disturbance where many birds move quickly at once.  Flying insects do cause quite a stir in the flock.  Until they meet a beak of doom.

1 comment:

  1. haha, love it! It is like comedy central everyday watching this entertainment I am sure :)

    ReplyDelete

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