Chickens Arrive!!

We've got chickens!! 4 hens to be exact. One of our friends decided that his brood of 16 chickens were too many, and he was giving some away. The humans decided that they could be quite happy on our 5 acres, and so came the chickens on one fateful Sunday.

This is Bailey. Bailey is a Golden, and an old boy. Nick and Julia, who brought the chickens to our house are his humans. While the humans were excited about the chickens and getting them all set up, I was only interested in Bailey for the time being. We introduced ourselves to each other, and then we ran and played together.

The humans trying to carry the chicken crate out of Bailey's trailer. I'm only keen on playing because I hadn't seen the chickens yet. Are they food for me Mummy?

Finally Rob carries the crate with the 4 hens, and puts it under the big pine tree near the garden shed. I was very interested in them, so was Bailey. He and I went to the crate to have a sniff about. The chickens were quite freaked out, crying away, but after a little while, they calmed down.

Yummy chickens. I didn't growl at the chickens or bark at them. I just wanted to get close enough to sniff their butts, but they were pretty shy animals, and stayed away from me. Who would have thought that I, an Airedale Terrier could ever live with chickens?

Every now and then, I would sit near to the crate and watch them from a distance. Mum said it was important for me to get acquainted with them, because these chickens were going to be around for a while. And also, if I stayed around and stayed calm, the chickens could also get used to the sight and smells of me.

And then of course, it was back to playing chase with Bailey. He is quite an old boy, so we didn't play too roughly. None of the usual bitey face with the Airedales and rough housing.

The sun was also shining quite strongly on us that Sunday. It was very warm indeed. The humans were still in the sun, buzzing about, chatting with each other, but we dogs were much smarter. We went and laid down under the shade. Ahh.. much nicer this way.

I was feeling extremely warm, because my coat is really long now. So I told mum to start stripping me again. The summer this year is really hot and dry. Where has the Seattle rain gone?

Hugs,
Kimi