Monday, April 14, 2014

an April day

Yes, it is possible to have snow here in the middle of April. And yes, showers are common at this time of the year. And, too, you can have some chilly days. Yes, not to exceed 35F.

But just because all this can happen, doesn't mean that you like it when it does.

I was expecting a cold Monday and I got it!

There is no sunrise photo for you. It was one of those gray ornings and the chickens weren't especially anxious to go out and forage when I released them from the coop and pen sometime around 7. Lexie was going nuts, dancing around me with the expectation of some kind of a treat -- like a kid whose parent went away to an exotic place, surely warranting a return with a gift, no?

Lexie is still likely to peck at you when she is worked up and I have to admit, cleaning the coop then can be a challenge. Ed locks the chicks out when he does it. I feel like they need to settle down with me going through their personal belongings, so I let them stay in the pen, but as a result, the whole process takes forever.

And did I mention it is cold?

And that there is snow on the ground?


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Indeed. But snow is the least of our issues. It had rained so hard in the last two days that the wheel barrow is nearly filled to the top with water. The blanket shielding the coop from winds is one soppy mess. It isn't pretty outside.

Or is it?


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In my absence, two things happened: the daffodils had a growth spurt. And so did Lexie! My scrawny girl is nearly as big as Butter! It's not easy to tell them apart these days (well, their personalities give them away...).


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(Somewhere in these morning hours, there was breakfast.)


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Later, as we return from Menards (cedar planting pots, on sale!),  I see them: hawks. Three, circling overhead. One of them is zeroing in on the courtyard of the farmette. Suddenly, I know it: the chickens are in danger. You know the expression slam on the brakes? I do the opposite:  slam on the gas pedal.What are you doing?? -- this from a horrified Ed.

I swerve into the driveway, run out and wave my arms wildly. The hawk is low, the chickens are frozen. Most are inside the pen, but Butter is outside, under a tree.
Ed - you look wild!
They say if you wave your arms enough, the hawk will eventually quit harassing the chickens.

It's sad to think of their inability to ward off all dangers. They wait, defenseless, hoping a hawk (or some other predator) will leave them alone. And maybe he will and maybe he wont. This one swoops down one last time and flies away.


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We have another cold day ahead of us. After that? No promises. And yet, maybe this is the last of the wintry mix?

I cook up a pot of chicken soup for supper. Ed looks at me quizzically. I shrug my shoulders. There are Lexie, Oreo, Butter, Whitney. Then there is chicken from the grocery store. Funny how the mind works.


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The wind howls, the temperature falls. Yep, it's April.

6 comments:

  1. My heart stopped when you saw the hawks. There has been a hawk in our neighborhood ... a friend down the road tells me it has a nest across the street from her. I worry about the light-colored Siamese feral kitty, Sami, who, like your white chickens, has no disguise in the woods. Her sibling was lost to a hawk or an eagle. I see that hawk on a tree top scoping out the neighborhood and swooping low through the woods after some prey. I have the feeling that if it manages to grab something, no amount of arm-waving or shouting will make it let loose.

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  2. Love that last photo! Glad they were still there to photograph!
    In Melbourne it is 10-22 C now (50-72 Fahrenheit) and though the days are golden autumn ones, on the colder nights we are glad we finally put central heating in. Jean

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  3. If those chickens are allowed to roam free with no protection (i.e. over the top of the cooped in area) it's only a matter of time before the hawk gets one or more of them. You came home just in the nick of time, that hawk already had his bib on and his fork and knife at the ready!

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  4. "You know the expression slam on the brakes? I do the opposite: slam on the gas pedal.What are you doing?? -- this from a horrified Ed."

    Laugh out loud funny! I enjoy all of your posts, but the chicken stories are just wonderful.

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  5. I watched a hawk swoop down and get a bunny in our backyard in Madison sometime in the 1980s. Those hawks are ruthless and hungry!

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