A Song for Our Girls

On Our Porch in the Sunshine – Practically Tropical

It’s not unusual for me to talk to our ‘girls’.  I think all chicken owners must converse with their flocks.  How could they not?  Especially with the hens.  They cluck and clack about whatever is going on – (garrulous old ladies aren’t called “old hens” for nothing) – and they even cock their heads and cast their beady eyes on me when I respond.  Not great listeners, I’d say… but average.

It’s not often, though, that I sing to our chickens.  But, today I did.  It was 26° down at the coop when I went to let them out of their run for a day of free-ranging.   “Feels like 20° said The Weather Channel.  “Uncomfortably Cold” said Mike Challis’ Long Beach Weather page.  So, along with their food and scratch, I carried a watering can of hot water to thaw out the ice in their drinking container.  And that’s what prompted the song I sang to them.

They came out of their coop in full cluck – a commentary on the cold weather, no doubt, but also the assurance that they were all fine.  After all, they are double-insulated.  Farmer Nyel insulated their coop when he built it and, of course, they are dressed for all contingencies in their usual down undergarments and their feathered frocks.

After I told them that The Boss is on the mend and will be seeing them before long, they gathered ‘round to watch me pouring that steaming water over the ice chunks in their drinking container – curious and watchful.  That’s when I sang to them:

I had a little chicken
And she wouldn’t lay an egg,
So I poured hot water
Up and down her leg.
Well, the little chicken hollered
And the little chicken prayed
And the little chicken laid a hard-boiled egg!

Hot Water To The Rescue!

As I headed back to the house, I reassured them that the song was just for fun – we really don’t expect any eggs, hard boiled or otherwise, at this time of year.  I’m not sure they believed me.  They followed me all the way back to the house and the Alpha hen came right up onto the porch, clucking and carrying on.  Maybe they liked my singing and wanted more.  It’s hard to know with chickens.

Clucking All The Way

2 Responses to “A Song for Our Girls”

  1. Cindi says:

    What a funny little diddy!

  2. sydney says:

    I should have said, it is sung to the tune of “Turkey in the Straw.”

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