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The Great Chicken Debacle

As the days are getting longer, the chickens are getting harder to get back into their cage. However, providing that the girls go through the same routine, it isn’t too difficult – make sure they have the scrap bucket (the chickens know that it contains their food, and follow it), then go outside and call out “chook chook” loudly several times so that they gather at the back gate, then open the gate, go through, shut the gate, and go down to the chook shed. Usually with 6 excited chicken running as fast as their fat legs can take them.
Not complicated at all.
Unless you have a 7-year-old girl (who shall remain nameless, but you can probably guess) who is in a feral, uncooperative mood – in which case, you have the great chicken debacle of November 2012 (not to be mixed up with the September one).
It began by bursting into tears and shouting – because we are the meanest parents EVER to expect her to help. Followed by stomping out the door without the bucket, leaving the gate open and going down to the chook shed without calling them.
Well, the poor chickens couldn’t cope with a break in the routine. Miss 7 called out “chook chook” down by the shed, and then several came, saw the gate open and went into our house yard. This made Miss 7 even crosser, so she shouted at the chickens – who, perhaps unsurprisingly, don’t really care if 7-year-olds yell at them.
At this point, Meg decides to get the scrap bucket and call the remaining chickens into the yard. The chickens thought that they had come to paradise, and promptly started scratching under some enormous bushes.
I got out a stick to try and chase them out, and Miss 7 found a paint brush (useless), which she then swapped for a 2 meter bit of irrigation hose (from one extreme to the other), neither of which proved useful. She did bang them around a bit for effect, though! A few times I almost got the chickens out of the yard, but Toby was standing right in the middle of the gate. Grrrrr.
Both girls continued to chase the chickens for a while, trying to catch them. Unfortunately, the chickens had wised up to what was going on and weren’t keen to be caught. Miss 7 took the opportunity to randomly shout at the chickens, her siblings, and me a bit more.
Finally, after about 10 minutes we got them out of the house yard, but the chickens wouldn’t go anywhere near the kids or the chicken coop. Maybe they didn’t like being shouted at after all.
At any rate, I called a halt to the proceedings, made the kids collect the eggs and left the chickens to recover from their ordeal in peace.

Country Boy shut the gate later in the evening after the sun went down, and I don’t imagine we will be getting any eggs for a few days! Of course, the whole thing was my fault because I made her do the chickens.

Am I the meanest parent ever? Will my chickens ever lay eggs again? Do chickens mind being shouted at?

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  1. Deb says

    November 22, 2012 at 5:53 am

    Thanks for a laugh and it is encouraging that other 7 yr olds drop their bundle from time to time! Deb

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Jo

I'm a city girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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Team work makes the dream work. We were asked rec Team work makes the dream work. 
We were asked recently whether we “make” our kids work on the farm. The answer is “of course not”. Having said that, all three love to help out whenever they can. They all work hard because they want to; because they take pride in working hard and contributing in a meaningful way to our family life; because they love living on our farm and don’t remember life before we moved here. Whether it be planting trees or doing sheep work or feeding animals, they all want to be involved. As a parent, nothing is better than watching them grow in skill and confidence as they work along side you. We’re so glad that we get to spend time with our three, working together.
We’ve had an unexpected addition to the family ☘️🐑. She is a lot easier to look after than the other family members but she does try to escape her yard and head butt people. Poddy lambs are super cute but they tend to think they are a human. Clover the lamb is sure that Meg is her mum. Can’t think why… 🤔🤣
The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: toge The perfect way to end a long winter weekend: together, cooking damper around the remains of the bonfire.
It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got It’s been a tough few weeks on the farm. We got through shearing without a hitch (thankfully 🙏) but we’ve had a run of the flu followed by Covid run through the family since then. The kids and I have tested positive (this is my second time getting it 🦠) though so far C has managed to avoid it. There has been a lot of lying on the couch feeling pretty ordinary. Han had to reschedule her driving test for a 4th time due to Covid, which is disappointing for her because she wants her freedom and for us because it would be so much more convenient if she could drive herself places. Just to add in to the mix, our hot water system has chosen now as a good time to die so we’re on cold showers until we’re all out of iso. This is not meant to be a whinging post but sometimes life just sucks a bit and it’s good to be real. Fortunately, the sight of the fire going with a stack of wood next to it cheers us up. Things will improve soon. Onwards we go…
A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the scho A picture perfect Autumn afternoon to end the school holidays. We’ve been busy spending time with friends and family, harvesting the last of the summer produce, as well as a short escape to explore the big smoke. After the craziness of last term it was the break we all needed. It’s back to school for me tomorrow, and the kids are back on Wednesday. Shearing starts soon and so it’s all systems go over the next few weeks.
Covid has made some late changes to our weekend pl Covid has made some late changes to our weekend plans so we are embracing the unexpected and doing not much at home. Plenty of time for hanging out on the dam and enjoy the perfect weather.

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Hi, I’m Jo

City girl turned farmer's wife, school teacher, ideas woman, and mum to three country kids. Country Life Experiment is all about simple country living, growing and making our own food, and life on our family farm in rural Australia. Join me as I give country living a try. Read more...
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