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Man....or Muppet?

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  • Man....or Muppet?

    Hi, newbie here.
    Joined the chicken revolution last November, bought the coop with run, filled it with 3 POL Warrens,a Light Sussex and a Polish; read all I could about keeping them, fed them, nurtured them...and the eggs have been rolling in ever since. This year the Sussex became broody (figured this when all the eggs were missing and had to lift the growling hen off a dozen which she'd pilfered!) so I separated her and sat her on half a dozen random eggs from a friend who has cockerels...and doubled my chicken count by 5 of the 6 hatching (4 banties of unknown breeds to my untrained eye and a lovely Orpington.)
    So, 6 weeks down the line I think hey, time to put the Sussex back in with the rest along with the chicks before she abandons them, since she'll protect them for now and she was the head of the roost prior to broodiness...makes sense to me. Unfortunately nobody warned me that the bloody dopey Polish would suddenly become the most aggressive creature since my ex wife, bullying both chicks and mother hen. I left it a day but had to move the chicks back to the other run after the Orp took a nasty head peck, but I left the Sussex in with her old gang and after a couple of days everything was back to normal.

    Now came a baffler. I cleaned the coops and runs out 3 days ago....and suddenly the buggers stopped laying..or so I thought until I started finding the eggs outside in the run. Figured I must have disturbed their routine so I left it be, but today whilst working on the garden saw them make no attempt to head indoors to lay, rather just pop them out on the dirt. Panic set in....the dreaded red mite? Spent two hours googling the problem this evening and at nightfall set off to the coop armed only with a torch and a gin and tonic in search of these beasties. The girls were all roosted on top of the coop which didn't help my fears, I tentatively opened the nesting box and bolstered by another slug of Bombay Saphire shone my torch inside and had a scrape around..........Nothing! Not a mite to be seen, in fact not a trace of chicken to be seen either. I shone my torch further in wondering why I could only see so far into the gloom....and then it hit me.........

    I'd closed the bloody door when I cleaned them out and not opened it to let them back in again!....MUPPET!!!!

  • #2
    Hello Muppet, I mean Floyd, and welcome to the Forum Sounds like you're going to fit right in amongst us Nutters

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    • #3
      Thanks Veggie Honestly it was a complete shock to find that the only cock in the coop was me!

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      • #4
        Never mind - something good has come of it. You've joined us here and given me a good laugh

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        • #5
          Ha ha, glad to be of service Hey, my cautionary tale of majestic Muppetry may spare somebody else the woe of feeling like they've just called the electrician out to their fridge, only to be told they haven't plugged it in.



          Erm, nearly did that once.

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          • #6
            Life would be very boring and predictable if we spent it being sensible
            Why don't you hop over to Introduce Yourself! and erm........Introduce yourself. You'll meet a lot more Nutters in that way

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            • #7
              I'll have a wobble over that way

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              • #8
                Too many G&Ts ?

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                • #9
                  I've moved onto red now.


                  That actually sounds a tad wrong since I have a chicken named Red!!!

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                  • #10
                    I did the same thing Floyd - forgot to re-open the coop door one day. I didn't half get a bollocking when I went in later to put them to bed - they'd settled down in all sorts of unlikely places. So you're not alone in nutterdom!
                    sigpicGardening in France rocks!

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                    • #11
                      I locked mine out once (well, actually more than once! ) Jeeeeeeez did they tell me off! Anyway, 'tis normal to experience extreme Muppetry on occasions, trust me!

                      I remember back in the days of Asbo (many Grapes will remember my beautiful bar-steward Rooster, kindly given me by RedThorn). He rushed out the coop one morning, at the crack of dawn, just as the auto-door was rising, but he did it in such a hurry that he must've hit the bottom of the door on the way out. This unhooked it from the string, causing it to close immediately, leaving him outside, and all his 'Laydees' stuck indoors.

                      Now, this was funny, but by the time I realised what had happened, he had got himself into such a state that when I went in to let the girls out, he attacked me. He'd never attacked me before, and didn't quite know what to do, so he just ran at me, as fast as he could, then just ran into me and almost knocked himself out! It was funny.

                      Sadly, he perfected the art of attack, so I had to go in 'armed' with a big stick, or the hosepipe on 'full-bore' as he hated water. Only then would he leave me alone.

                      I re-homed him in the end.

                      Anyway, get yourself a VSB auto opener and door - they're fab!
                      All the best - Glutton 4 Punishment
                      Freelance shrub butcher and weed removal operative.

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                      • #12
                        My husband did the same. I cried so much because I thought tney'd all been eaten, but inthemorning we discovered they'd roosted all around the garden, up the tree, behind the shed, inthe greenhouse etc!
                        Must be aman thing ;-) x
                        Www.chicorychildrenandchickens.wordpress.com

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                        • #13
                          Oy! Nothing wrong with muppets !

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                          • #14
                            Not really a man thing. I locked 2 broodies out last night and wondered why the hens weren't going to bed. Then I realised...

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Poddington Pea View Post
                              ... Must be a man thing ;-) x
                              I'm female...
                              All the best - Glutton 4 Punishment
                              Freelance shrub butcher and weed removal operative.

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