Today at work, one of the chickens pooped on my shirt and then jumped on my head. Luckily she didn't also poop on my head.
Oh....maybe I should back up.
Yesterday we found a couple of chickens in the parking lot where I work. Our building is in an industrial business park in a highly populated part of town. Most of the area is filled with commercial buildings - big strip malls, building materials warehouses, furniture stores, auto repair places, self-storage facilities, some restaurants and convenience stores. There are sections of houses and apartments too. Busy, main streets where the speed limits are about 50 mph. Lots of traffic all the time.
But there aren't ANY places near us that resemble a farm, farmland, or any other place where you might naturally find chickens. We have NO idea how they got there.
They wandered into the parking area near our warehouse doors. One of the guys at work used to raise chickens as a kid, so he recognized that they were healthy, good-looking chickens. One was so friendly that he was able to catch it rather quickly. The other one was not as easy. It took about 5 of us at least 30 minutes of running around the parking lot, trying to corner the chicken as she ran under parked cars, around bushes and up and down the sidewalks. That chicken could haul ass when she wanted to.
We finally got her when she walked out from under a parked car and didn't see one of the guys standing there ready to grab her. We brought them inside and gave them water and crackers. We called animal control, but they couldn't come to pick them up before we closed for the day. So they spent the night in one of our bathrooms. We gave them water and more crackers and covered the toilet so they wouldn't fall in and drown. We also put a blanket in there.
You can't imagine how much chicken poop comes out of these birds in a mere 24 hours.
This morning I went in to see them. I never thought much of chickens, but they were really cute. They looked like this picture:
They were also really friendly. They were on top of the storage cabinet in the bathroom which is about the same height as the bathroom sink. I was feeding them some crackers and they kept coming closer and closer. Then one of them started looking at me and I could tell she wanted to jump on my shoulder. She did a little bob up and down thing with her whole body like she was getting ready to try to jump. I thought, "What the heck," and leaned closer so she could jump. She jumped on my shoulder.
But then, being unsatisfied with what she had just achieved and taking no time at all to savor her accomplishment, she immediately jumped on the top of my head. At that exact moment, my boss turned the corner and saw me with a chicken on my head.
I don't blame the chicken. If you were a bird and you saw my curly, long-past-due-for-a-haircut, mop of a head, you'd want to climb up in it too.
So after the chicken was safely deposited back on the ground, I saw that she had pooped on my shirt. People at work said that it is good luck when a bird poops on you. Somehow I don't think that the Good Luck Fairies would bestow any luck on someone who was stupid enough to deliberately let a chicken climb on her shoulder. That's got to be some kind of automatic disqualification. I think this one falls into the jurisdiction of the You-Get-What-You-Deserve Fairies.
We cancelled the pickup by animal control because one of the guy's friends wants the chickens. He has about 5 acres of land at his house and he's going to build a chicken coop. He put them in a big box and took them away this afternoon. I'm going to miss them. They were fun to have around.
Oh....maybe I should back up.
Yesterday we found a couple of chickens in the parking lot where I work. Our building is in an industrial business park in a highly populated part of town. Most of the area is filled with commercial buildings - big strip malls, building materials warehouses, furniture stores, auto repair places, self-storage facilities, some restaurants and convenience stores. There are sections of houses and apartments too. Busy, main streets where the speed limits are about 50 mph. Lots of traffic all the time.
But there aren't ANY places near us that resemble a farm, farmland, or any other place where you might naturally find chickens. We have NO idea how they got there.
They wandered into the parking area near our warehouse doors. One of the guys at work used to raise chickens as a kid, so he recognized that they were healthy, good-looking chickens. One was so friendly that he was able to catch it rather quickly. The other one was not as easy. It took about 5 of us at least 30 minutes of running around the parking lot, trying to corner the chicken as she ran under parked cars, around bushes and up and down the sidewalks. That chicken could haul ass when she wanted to.
We finally got her when she walked out from under a parked car and didn't see one of the guys standing there ready to grab her. We brought them inside and gave them water and crackers. We called animal control, but they couldn't come to pick them up before we closed for the day. So they spent the night in one of our bathrooms. We gave them water and more crackers and covered the toilet so they wouldn't fall in and drown. We also put a blanket in there.
You can't imagine how much chicken poop comes out of these birds in a mere 24 hours.
This morning I went in to see them. I never thought much of chickens, but they were really cute. They looked like this picture:
They were also really friendly. They were on top of the storage cabinet in the bathroom which is about the same height as the bathroom sink. I was feeding them some crackers and they kept coming closer and closer. Then one of them started looking at me and I could tell she wanted to jump on my shoulder. She did a little bob up and down thing with her whole body like she was getting ready to try to jump. I thought, "What the heck," and leaned closer so she could jump. She jumped on my shoulder.
But then, being unsatisfied with what she had just achieved and taking no time at all to savor her accomplishment, she immediately jumped on the top of my head. At that exact moment, my boss turned the corner and saw me with a chicken on my head.
I don't blame the chicken. If you were a bird and you saw my curly, long-past-due-for-a-haircut, mop of a head, you'd want to climb up in it too.
So after the chicken was safely deposited back on the ground, I saw that she had pooped on my shirt. People at work said that it is good luck when a bird poops on you. Somehow I don't think that the Good Luck Fairies would bestow any luck on someone who was stupid enough to deliberately let a chicken climb on her shoulder. That's got to be some kind of automatic disqualification. I think this one falls into the jurisdiction of the You-Get-What-You-Deserve Fairies.
We cancelled the pickup by animal control because one of the guy's friends wants the chickens. He has about 5 acres of land at his house and he's going to build a chicken coop. He put them in a big box and took them away this afternoon. I'm going to miss them. They were fun to have around.
3 comments:
Chickens! My new fave creature. Oh my gosh, I love this entry so much. What an adventure. So glad you saved the poor kids. I love that you let her jump on your shoulder and then your head. Such a hilarious image. She wanted to roost in your hair!
Glad chickesn found a good home and didn't have to go to the pound.
Good work.
I'm thinking the chickens have read the blog. And becoming addicted to it made the long trek from Colonel Sanders Meathouse (it has wifi now). Thrown by the fact that they even found the place (had no GPS) they ran like hell to get away from you.
Just my thoughts
See- chickens on the head are not so bad!
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