On “The Farm” Life Is Certainly Entertaining

This morning was one of those mornings that held a delightful surprise for me. It wasn’t yet dawn when I crawled out of bed, got dressed and started my morning farm chores. The morning was rainy and damp and I didn’t relish the thought of getting out in it and experiencing the ambiance of a cold, wet day. Morning farm chores. Sounds positively dreadful, doesn’t it? Well, let me explain…


My mom started calling the acreage I bought “The Farm” from almost the first day she heard about it. The name stuck, even though, in fact, it was not a real farm. We have always had dogs and cats but up until this year we had no livestock. Three hens, a rooster, and three guinea fowl are now my livestock. Livestock!

Since I am now an official farmer I have official farm chores, which include letting the birds out of their coop in the morning, giving them feed and water, and closing them up in the coop at night. These chores are not something I shirk or try to avoid. I know from owning dogs and cats that they need daily attention to not just live, but to thrive, and I happily try to give them what they need to be happy dogs and cats. And now I do the same for my chickens and guineas.

In fact, I enjoy working with the birds, especially the chickens. Each time I approach their covered yard they run to the gate to greet me. I’m sure they are expecting a treat but I prefer to think they are happy to see me. As I work in their yard, giving them feed and water, they follow me around and two of the hens come up close and watch me. I pet them frequently, thinking that they will be used to human contact when it comes time to clip their wings and then remove the netting from the yard so the guineas can roam freely, eating the dreaded ticks that plague the other animals on The Farm.

This morning it had started to rain so I decided to open the coop up early in case the rain got harder and I wouldn’t have to go out in a downpour later on. I figured that the birds weren’t even awake yet since I hadn’t heard Crowlee (our rooster) crowing. I grabbed my raincoat but didn’t grab my camera because it was too dark to take pictures anyway. The dogs and I made our way to the yard and I opened the door to the coop. The chickens weren’t too anxious to get out of their cozy coop and into the rain, and I was ready to get back into the house. Then it happened. Crowlee crowing. What’s special about a rooster crowing? This time it wasn’t an ordinary crow, the one he crows regularly. No this was Crowlee making his trilling crow. He was still in the coop, but he was crowing and trilling. I wasn’t sure if he would still be crow-trilling if I went back to the house to get the camera to record it, but I decided to try anyway. When I got back to the chicken yard with the camera he was nice enough to crow for me a time or two. Thank heavens I was able to catch it.

What’s There to Crow About?

I’ve mentioned before that I started keeping chickens and guineas. I bought them as one-week-old chicks and keets from Atwoods. There was a very helpful and knowledgeable lady there that answered all my questions and guided me on what I would need to start my chicken-guinea adventure. Four of the chicks I bought were ‘sexed’, meaning that they were supposed to be all female. I bought two others that I told the lady I didn’t care if they were male or female because I did want one rooster. The keets came as straight-run, meaning they were (probably) 50-50 male/female.


Fast-forward 15 weeks.

My routine each day starts with a walk up to the road to let the birds out of their coops and then on to collect the newspaper. The dogs and cats usually make the trip with me. It’s not a long one in distance but time-wise it can take quite a while, depending upon what I find to slow my progress. I have paused on my route for sunrises, flowers, birds, turtles, and anything that sparkles on the path.

This morning started like most others. I let the chickens and guineas out of their coops and checked their food and water and then made my way up the driveway. Anna, our beloved Pyrenees, was ‘guarding’ the driveway from a depression in the grass, so I made my way over to pet her and say good morning, and the other dogs joined me, nuzzling her to say ‘hello’.

Then we heard it; a strange sound. Something I had never heard before. I paused, and the dogs did too. Waiting to see if the sound happened again. Yes, there it was. What was it? It was coming from the chicken yard. Could it be? But that’s not what it should sound like. And again – the sound. Yes, yes, yes!

Crowing!

I walked up to the yard and watched as one of my ‘guaranteed female’ hens was crowing. I have wondered about this particular chicken for a few weeks because it was much larger than the other hens and it’s comb and tail feathers were larger. I have read that if one has only hens that one of them will take on the role of the rooster, crowing and acting more rooster-like and giving up their egg-laying role. But I don’t think it alters their physical appearance and starts at this early age, and especially since they haven’t started laying eggs yet.

Crowlee

So, I do have my rooster. It’s not one that I expected, but I’ll take what I can get. As to the crowing, I think it’s one of the sweetest sounds I could ever hear.

What a way to start the morning!

Greet the Morning?

So what’s so special about dawn that all the animals in the house want out and all the animals outside want in? And why can’t I sleep through it? I know the answer to the second question, but will I ever know the answer to the first? Probably not.

I do know that animals have an internal clock, humans included, which is pretty accurate. Our kittens have (for months now) started playing and jumping up on the bed at almost the exact same time every morning, attacking my feet, jumping on me, trying to rub their whiskers on my face, wanting me to get up and feed them. Coco, one of our dogs, starts whining at about the same time. Not to go out and ‘do’ anything, but to sit on the front porch and bark at the morning. 

I’m not opposed to the morning. In fact, I love the morning and I am usually an early riser anyway, but this morning I wanted to sleep in. Just a bit. I had stayed up late last night working on the computer and wanted just a bit more sleep this morning. But, it wasn’t to be, and I did finally get up and start my day.

 Sunrise Over the Pond

 
So, I hope your morning was a bit gentler than mine, and that you were allowed to sleep as long as you wanted to this morning. And if not, you have my sympathies. In any case, get out and enjoy the morning. The streaks of pink, gold, and orange painting the sky. The smell of the crisp, cold air. The birds chirping their welcome to the morning.

Have a wonderful day!