When I was up in Michigan earlier this month, I had a grand time turning over logs and rocks for her. When you're across the yard from her and call to let her know you're going to turn a snack bar over, she comes running full tilt with wings flapping to get there as fast as she possibly can. Then she talks and chirps as she happily hunts everything under the rock or log. There's this sound that she makes when she's particularly happy with the haul that is so cute - it's like a chicken purr.

I know that sound. When SWMBO had chickens, I'd go out in the woods and find a rotting log that was full of grubs and start hacking it apart with an ax. Stupid chickens would get so excited they'd jump up on top of the log while I'm trying to chop it.

We have a sloping driveway, and one thing we'd do for entertainment is feed them grapes. We called it "Bowling for Chickens". You'd roll a grape down the hill and watch a chicken follow it, her little head bobbing back and forth a mile a minute tracking that rolling grape. Seems like they couldn't get a bead on it until it stopped, so they'd follow it all the way down the hill.

We also loved feeding them spaghetti. They loved the stuff, but one quick peck and they'd have a strand all wrapped around their beaks. Then another one would try to steal it.

One time one of them found a rubber band. We couldn't figure out what was going on at first, since we didn't put the rubber band out, dunno where it came from. All we knew was that two chickens had found something and were stealing it from each other, back and forth, about every quarter second, you couldn't even keep up with how fast that rubber band changed beaks. Snapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnapsnap. Looked like it'd go on forever until we grabbed the rubber band ourselves; probably not a good thing for a chicken to be eating.

Oh, that is so funny. I'll have to tell my brother about "Bowling for Chickens". There's a fantastic hill that should be great entertainment - for both him and that lucky chicken.

Webfoot

I forgot to relate one of the most endearing tales. We had a homemade chicken coop, and every evening at dusk the chickens would all file into the coop and then we'd lock the door to keep the predators out. Yes, an actual padlock; raccoons are amazing critters, a simple latch won't stop them. Every evening as SWMBO was rounding up the chickens, one of the last chickens we had, a Buff Orpington we named "Buffet", would circle around behind her and jump up and bite her on the butt. Then it would sit down and expect to be picked up and hugged before it'd go into the coop for the night.

Most of the chickens we had over the years met with bad ends as we live among raccoons, foxes, hawks, you name it. But we got better at protecting them, and Buffet lived six years and died of natural causes in SWMBO's arms.

Then it would sit down and expect to be picked up and hugged before it'd go into the coop for the night.

They really do have funny little personalities. My brother's chicken loves to sit in his lap and she also has a way of giving my sister-in-law a little kiss on the cheek when she's being hugged. It's really fun to watch. Buffet sounds like a real character! :)

Webfoot

When Mega Monkey was in preschool, one of the moms brought in one of the family chickens to share (it's a co-op preschool). As the kids were in a circle, she sort of hop-flew right over to MM and landed right on his head! He couldn't figure out whether to be scared or laugh hysterically, so he was sort of doing both. It was pretty funny, with everyone trying to get her off of him and him laughing/ kinda freaking out. The mom said the chicken had never done that to anyone before. Well, the following year, as we were planning another chicken visit, we were all joking about it and the mom said not to worry, the chicken had not flown onto anyone's head in during the entire year since the last visit. So the chicken came to visit again and I swear to you, that chicken went right onto my son's head! Everyone was laughing and trying to take a picture at the same time. Not sure if my son has a head that resembles an egg, or what, but that chicken wants to be on his head...no one else's, just his!