Under The Sign Of The Chicken

When the chickens appeared on my porch last year, I was afraid that I would end up becoming the crazy chicken lady with 100's of chickens.  I was determined this year to get rid of a chicken for every new one that I got.  To get to that end, I placed many chickens on craigslist this spring.  I was down to the last group of chickens I wanted to find a new home for, the Golden Laced Wyandottes.  They had been advertised for over a month with no takers.  But Monday, I finally had a phone call on the Wyandottes.

A young Chinese couple pulled up into the driveway in a sub-compact car.  They just wanted the rooster, so I had him in a cage ready to go, but as we talked, they decided to take the hens as well.  The only problem was that they didn't even have a box to put chickens in, and the hens were free ranging all over the yard.  I tried for 15 minutes, and caught only one hen.  The young man tied the chicken's legs and held it quietly.  The woman was very talkative and I learned that they had peacocks and other ornamental fowl but no chickens.  She finally suggested that her husband should try to catch the chickens.  He caught each hen quickly, and with no drama, each one was tied and placed in a small box in their car.

As his wife was getting the money for the chickens from her car, her husband held one of the chickens on its back, stroking its stomach.  It was the most contented I had ever seen a chicken.  I commented to his wife that he seemed to have a gift handling the chickens.  She looked at me, and with no hesitation, said, "He was born under the sign of the chicken."

I don't believe in astrology, but I do think that there are people who have a special gift handling chickens.  They always seem to be very calm and quiet so I have tried to apply that to my own approach to chickens.  I have noticed that if I slow down, even to the point of stopping and taking a deep breath, chickens behave differently, even mean roosters.  Chickens have been good for me.  They let me know when I am in overdrive and need to slow down.  Listen to your chickens, they will let you know when you are stressed, and need to slow down.