When I got my dad his (Polish) chicken recently (when he helped me build my chicken pen), he named her “Anna” after his Polish grandmother who emigrated to the Chicago area around 1900. Little did I know that we were setting ourselves up for “Chicken Envy”…You see, my mom, Barbara, aka Nana, looks a lot like “Anna”. Seriously. My mom has silver and black “spikey” hair. Since recently “meeting” Anna, my mom has decided that (a.) Daddy should rename “his” chicken after her, or (b.) I need to get mom her own Polish chicken that she can name “Nana”. Hmmmm…..Quite a dilemma, huh?
The four chickens remaining, after the return of the three roosters, are getting along great. And they have become quite “social” with me! When I come out to check their water and feed in the evening I’ve taken to “rewarding” them for their attention with a fresh worm from my worm bin. I wonder if Pavlov knew chickens could be conditioned like dogs…
Each evening, even if it is dark and the girls are in their coop, when they hear me or see me coming (I carry a flashlight if it is dusk or dark), they exit the coop one-by-one down the ramp and scurry over to me at the fence, anticipating their bedtime “treat”. It is quite comical! My vegetarian daughter even partakes in the ritual and finds it delightful to watch the girls all vie for a worm.
The girls have been enjoying their “treat” so much, that I ordered mealworms and am now doling them out liberally, much to their delight! I hope my daughter doesn't find the box of them I have hidden in the back of the refrigerator...
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