My chickens are a motley crew that spends much of its day out foraging for grass and bugs. So, when I received a report of lost chickens, I took it seriously.
These chickens were over the hill by the creek, a place none of my chickens had ever gone. This was suspicious.
Trying to Count Chickens
My present flock has 31 hens and two roosters. I went out and started counting. I found 29 hens and the roosters, so I had no lost chickens.
That meant there were strange chickens down the road from me. Where did they come from? Did they belong to anyone?
My nearest neighbors in that direction are a mile and a half away. They have no chickens.
Chicken Investigation
I put a scoop of scratch feed in a bucket and started off down the road. It’s a nice walk, even if I didn’t find any chickens.
And, there by the creek, I found these lost chickens. Four roosters. Why would someone dump out four roosters? Potential chicken dinners? Potential money at the small animal sale?
Herding Chickens
There was a time when I pounce on a chicken. I even ran down a fox one day to rescue a hen. I don’t do things like that any more.
Instead, I called these roosters and tossed out a little feed. They were hungry and came right over, not close enough to grab, but I was their new best friend.
We made it over the hill before I ran out of feed. I tried herding them, but they bolted up the hill. I went to get more feed and they went back to the creek.
Second Encounter
The next morning, I was headed into town. On a whim, I put a sack of scratch feed in the truck. And met the roosters on their way over the hill in search of their new friend, the one with food.
I parked the truck and started moving the roosters down the hill from handful of feed to handful of feed. We arrived at the barn gate and these roosters were glad to see all those hens.
Unhappy Chickens
My flock was settled. The two roosters had an uneasy truce helped by the fact one was very old, for a chicken.
Now four new young roosters have moved in. The six compete for the hens. They serenade the place all day.
My original rooster feels threatened and gives chase whenever he can. Even the four new ones fight and chase each other. They are no longer lost chickens.
