Jackie makes friends

Sunday night, all the girls except Jackie went into the coop at dusk. Jackie was hanging around outside the coop door. I threw him/her into the coop and closed the door. I got up at 5:00 the following morning open the coop up again at dawn. Chickens don’t see well in the dark, and I figured Jackie would be safe until it got light. Once the sun was up, I wanted to be sure he could run away if there was trouble. Indeed, the hens were still on their perch. Jackie was asleep on the floor by the food.

The next day, the hens seemed friendlier, especially the Dominiques. One wonders if it was because they too were black and white. At one point, Hilda saw all of the hens in the cage we’d set up for Jackie, eating his food.

Jackie and his/her new friend, Sara

Jackie’s gender is once again in question. Since he/she came to live with the hens, we have seen no signs of aggression or mating behavior. We’ll just have to wait. Jackie seems to be developmentally delayed from being raised with the Jumbo Cornish X Rock broilers. I knew the broilers were hybrids. I assumed it was between a Cornish and a White Rock chicken, but given that they are as dumb as actual rocks, I have to wonder. All they do is eat and poop. They do peck around some in the grass, but they aren’t interested in mealworms or watermelon rinds. They sort of go in the coop at night, but we often have to encourage the stragglers to make the step up to get inside. They don’t perch, preferring to lie all night in their own wet, stinky excrement. Jackie did have enough sense to perch at night. She’s slowly getting the idea of foraging from the other hens. She can hear the “food over here” call, and she pecks around on the ground near the hens. Here’s a video of her trying to figure out what the big deal is with the watermelon rind, which the rest of the girls think is about the best think since carrot peelings. Part of her problem might have been that she had a wood chip stuck on her face, possibly up her nose. Can’t begin to imagine how that happened. I found it quite easy to walk up behind her since the feathers block her vision. She doesn’t like to be held much, but I was able to remove the wood chip.

Jackie now sleeps on the lower perch. He/she also hangs with the chicks in the shade of the coop on these hot afternoons. In the picture you will note that all the hens have their mouths open.

Jackie on the lower roost (right)

Hot chicks in the coop

We got the garlic harvested yesterday. The yield was good this year. We counted them and hung them under the deck to dry. We are getting more cucumbers and zucchini every day. The corn is tasseling. The beans are starting to develop, and the tomatoes are showing a tiny bit of color. Soon the household will be obsessed with “putting up.”

Hilda digging the garlice

Garlic hanging under the deck

We are, thankfully, coming to the end of our time caring for the broilers. Their appointment with “freezer heaven,” as Jane calls it, is tomorrow. I’m leaving for my annual week in the Boundary Waters with Jane in the morning. Hilda knew I wouldn’t be around for the round up when she made the appointment with the butcher. She and Terry will load the chickens into two cages and drive them to Walworth. Then, as if by magic, they will pick them up, plucked, cleaned, shrink-wrapped, and frozen, Sunday.

And even though we probably will raise “dual purpose” chickens next time around (they take longer to mature but are more like normal chickens, and we can keep some of the hens for layers), when I see the broilers lounging on the grass in the evening, I remember why we did it. They’ve had a happy 8 weeks with us. They were able to get outside and breathe fresh air for the better part of every day. I have the same kind of pride that I feel when looking at a tomato plant. We are raising our own food. And at the end of the season, the chickens and the tomatoes will be equally dead. Through their death, my life continues. I have come one step closer to grasping the true meaning of being an omnivore.

The broilers enjoying the late afternoon on the lawn