Thursday 6 September 2012

The Chicken Sitters...

Another reason we love Burgenland.

You can't say that our life is dull or boring. Well to us it is not, but possibly a few readers might think differently.

As you know, our neighbour keeps some chickens, that are a wonderful source of entertainment for us. In fact, our bedroom window overlooks their playground ( yard ) and its gate. When we ( well not that often actually ! ) walk into our bedroom, we see the chickens and their antics. Some funny, some naughty and some irritating. The last one is just for Bob, as he hates the early, pre-crack of dawn yodeling next door ! In his befuddled state, Bob often wishes some bad things for the yodeler ( roasting being one option ).

Once Bob is properly awake, you get to see how much he cares about the culprits across the road. Now and again, some of the ladies meander down the road, alternatively clucking and picking the ground for food. All I hear then is Bob's alarmed
" The chickens are out again. " and before he even finished the sentence, he is across the road starting the herding process...and not for the first time either !

It is so comical to watch. One hen is easy to entice back, but when there is a crowd of cheeky hens, it gets interesting. Once or twice, they play nice and listen to Bob while marching demurely back in single file, to their gate and through it.
But mostly, like naughty kids, they tend to scatter in all kinds of directions. Bob then gets a good workout, trying to cut off their different escape routes. All you see then is a lot of wing " flapping ", clucking and protest from them.

I think that these hens enjoy being herded by Bob, thinking it a game, and that they decide to scatter more often than not, just to get Bob to come over !

When Bob saw Werner, he told him about his deeds. Five minutes later, Bob came back with a big smile on his face, and told me that he can help out with the feeding, on the days that Werner is not here. That officially makes us the Chicken-Sitters and we are very proud of it.

Biggi

She looks so innocent, yet...

The cheering spectators.

The hide and seek part...

Would you please listen ?

Her head is held high, but she listened.

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