On My Own

Well, I did it! I walked through the chickens by myself this morning!  I got up at 6:15 AM and was out at the chicken houses by 6:30....by 8:15 I was back in our house again.  Not too, too bad I guess for the first time checking 4 floors.

So, I knocked on the first door...just like you are supposed to do to be polite..hahaha...no, really its to get the chickens to move away from the door.  I walked in, took a deep breath to build up my courage.  Big mistake!!  These white peeps STINK!  And the ground you walk on isn't quite the same as it was the first time that I helped to check the peeps! With 5 days of eating and pooping, why would I expect it to be?  DUH! But I continued on...walking a zig-zag just like I was supposed to.  Over the water line, over the feeders, over the other water line..tap the wall...and back to the middle.  I felt like I really knew what I was doing.  Only thing is, I think the white peeps have an attitude...they sure didn't want to move to much unless I was practically stepping on them...I was a bit shocked.  They did move, just not like the last time.  Boy oh boy how much difference a few days make in the life of a chicken.

On to the gray ones....I have determined I like them better at this point.  They still ran away, they were smaller, the air was cooler down at their end, and they didn't stink as much!  Yep, I liked the grey ones.  they were still cute. And I like cute.

First building done.  Now what do I do with the dead chickens?  Rod took them out to the other end of the building the last time.  So...do I let them sit in the buckets until he gets back..or should I be a good wife and take them out myself?  Yep, you guessed it...I am a good wife.  Well...you have to understand...I babysit for a living...I have an imagination...so I imagined what this was going to look like.  I thought it was going to be this big smelly  pit that I would throw the dead chickens into...they would be down in a hole and I wouldn't have to see them ever again. WRONG!!  It is a pile of dead chickens in this little open shanty thing.  All you do is throw the dead ones on top.  Ok...not so big of deal, right? WRONG!...add a little dog who likes to eat dead chickens...he just follows you out.  Next thing I know, he is running off somewhere with a dead chicken in his mouth...GROSS.  Now I know why you don't have to feed him twice a day!

Now, on to the second building.  These chickens are a week older than the others...ALL of them white chickens.  Not so cute anymore.   And in some places out there, your feet sort of sink into the "dirt." I think Rod usually adds sawdust to those places, but being new to this, I wasn't even sure if that is what he really does, nor did I even know where the sawdust was kept or what I would use to bring it in, so I just kept walking!

A few things I realized in this house....
1.  If you can think and count at the same time, you can pray for a lot of people while you are checking chickens.  I really don't think God minds if your prayers are interrupted for counting chickens as you pick up the next dead one.
2.  Don't be too hasty to decide you might just actually like this job...because right after you think this, you might have to pick up a dead chicken whose head was smashed in the "dirt" and its leg was sort of squishy instead of hard or firm like the other dead ones you picked up prior to you thinking this.
3.  While you are walking through chickens, don't wave your arms (with a bucket in your hand) up at your face if you walk through a spider web....it makes the chickens freak out! Thus causing them to try to fly...which only stirs up dust and feathers in your face!
4.  While walking with a bucket in your hands in a chicken house...you are like God or Moses...by only raising your hand you can make the chickens run in all directions! Hahaha

Well, in closing, when all was said and done....I needed a good long shower, scrubbed my hair and skin until it was good and clean.  But it took me all day to stop smelling the chicken house odor...it was in my nose from the dust of the spooked chickens...even after I blew my nose several times! Tomorrow I will wear a mask!  Won't that be a pretty accessory to my lovely outfit?!?!?!?

Goodnight, my blogger friends...until next time...eat more chicken!