We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Chores to Bring You an ANNOUNCEMENT

 

 

Some days you trudge out to do chores and just put your head down, ignore the cold/wind/rain/heat and just focus on the necessary steps to get 'er done.

Other days you go out and take a moment to stand and appreciate/enjoy the beauty around you.

Still other days you go out and listen to the quail creating a ruckus and the roosters having a crow-off, reminding the quail who is really the boss of the homestead.

And then there are days when you go out and find....a long hoped for surprise.

On September 12th ~ 150 days ago according to Ms. Googly Pants ~ we drove to the west side of Mobile and bought 10 Buff Orpington pullets, 1 Buff Orpington cockerel, 10 Rhode Island Red pullets, and 1 Easter Egger cockerel (because they were out of Rhode Island Reds cockerels when we got there).  In time we realized we actually had 9 Rhode Island Red pullets and 1 Rhode Island Red cockerel so we shared the Easter Egger with a neighbor.

But I digress.

We have fed these free-loaders for 150 days.  In that time we have hatched out 3 different sets of quail, all of whom are laying and many of whom have been sent to "freezer camp".  The chickens have just kept eating and trash-talking the quail.  

Each week I have at least one customer on my delivery route who asks, "Do you have any chicken eggs??".  Each week I have to disappoint them.  Last week I mentioned to one customer that my girls are lazy girls.  She suggested I feed them hot peppers to make them lay (they are currently grazing in last year's pepper patch and enjoying a variety of hot peppers, primarily Carolina Reapers).  I told her I was more likely to prop an axe up, point to it, and tell them to "GET BUSY!".  She was a bit shocked.

This morning we woke up to a beautiful day.  Sunny, warm, breezy; everything life at the beach should be.  A welcome change from the cold of the past few weeks.

I walked out and went to the chicken house to open the door and let them roam.  From force of habit (not expectation), I glanced around the house.....

 Surprise!!!!  

For comparison; a small first chicken egg and a regular-sized quail egg

There it was, right there, just as pretty as it could be.  I took a few moments to do the Dance of Joy.  I pulled up Etta James on my phone and walked into the house with it blaring at full volume for Cletus.  I walked back out and praised the girls lavishly for their hard work.  I reminded the quail that yes, it was only one from a total of 19 but give them a break, they did the best they could.  

After I got all the quail taken care of I walked back out to the chicken house to give just a bit more positive reinforcement.

Surprise!!!!!!! 


 

Chickens respond very well to positive reinforcement.

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