The Foragers – Photo by Tucker

When Tucker showed me his photographs of our visiting chickens yesterday he said, “All we need is to light the fire and chicken dinner is underway!”

Those girls!! There they were, right in the middle of the Wachsmuth firepit scavenging for stray bits and pieces. Never mind that they had a tiny, watchful audience-of-one perched on a rim rock nearby. And never mind that Tucker was gathering evidence of their trespassing ways!

Visiting the Wachsmuths – photo by Tucker

It must have been their first excursion of the day. Tucker took the pictures well before nine o’clock and I don’t think Nyel had opened the coop door until after eight. Those girls don’t let the grass grow, so to speak. Actually, I should specify that it’s just two of them. They are the bravest of the five – or so I think. They are Rhode Island Reds and we have three of them – all identical to the average onlooker. Two seem to be more aggressive but we have no idea if it’s always the same two. Not that it matters.

Heading for Greener Grass

Farmer Nyel’s reaction to the photos was, “I guess we have to build a barbecue pit now.” He’s already eyeing the garden and trying to figure out the optimum location. Neither of us really believes that such an expenditure of energy (and probably money) will keep the girls at home though. They have already learned that the grass is always greener.

We can only hope that they don’t find out the hard way that the firepit is sometimes hotter…