Chickenshit
I can remember back in the early aughts, many people began keeping chickens in their back yards. It took many by surprise because up to that point, the only domestic critters were cats, dogs and small rodents like hamsters and gerbils. There was also the occasional field mouse, but that was unplanned.
Not everyone was pleased with this emerging trend. No one had really studied the ordinances regarding domestic livestock within city limits for probably 100 years. People started studying them then, what they discovered was that having backyard chickens was okay. Pigs and horses though, not so much.
About 25 years ago, my wife owned a house in town and looked out the window to see a bunch of chickens in her backyard! The neighbor had recently added some to his backyard. The chicks, small critters that they are, had found a way under the fence and decided to go exploring for new and different bugs to eat. The hens, of course, had decided to fly over the fence to see what the chicks were up to. Nancy was charmed by the birdie visit because she had a few pet chickens when she was a little girl. They eventually found their way home, and the neighbor thoughtfully blocked their path under the fence.
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Some time this summer I noticed that something had stirred up the mulch we had added to the yard this spring. It didn’t take long to figure out that it was a chicken.
I don’t know where she came from, but she would appear at random times in our backyard. She had a regular circuit that she would follow, and she usually stuck to paths where she was under the cover of bushes. She was rarely out in the open and if she was, it wasn’t for long. I supposed that this was instinctual, we also have hawks in the neighborhood.
I really don’t mind having a chicken around, I named her Shake & Bake. I can put up with her re-landscaping the mulch, I can rake it back in the spring. She’s good fertilizer for the yard and conrols the bug population. I just wish she would learn to “hold it” when she’s crossing the hardscape. We know when she’s been by.
We’re not sure where she lives, or if she’s a wild chicken, living by her wits. We have seen another flock of chickens in a neighbor’s yard, but they look plump and well fed. Shake & Bake is lean and fast.
I figured we would see less of her when the weather got really cold. We had our first frost yesterday morning. That usually means the end of the bug population. It was sunny and clear when I went outside to check on things. There was Shake & Bake browsing in the yard, keeping a wary distance from me. I did get that picture of her. I tried to get several but in every picture, she’s headed away from me.
Live long and prosper, Shake & Bake!
