For Me To Poop On

Hello all! Feels good to be back in the game of blogging about chickens. I've missed all the excitement! So today's topic deals with what I've discovered is an unfortunate side issue with owning backyard chickens: POOPING. More specifically I'm referring to their tendency to poop on things they should not. I'm not begrudging them their right to poop. That would be preposterous. As the Taro Gomi book states, "Everybody poops" and that goes for chickens too. It is just that they poop on....well...anything they can stand on top of. Let's observe.

 

We had been keeping the chickens food in a wooden box on our side porch. One day recently I came home from work to find that they had camped out near their food for what appeared to be ALL DAY LONG. They pooped on everything. It was horrible. I'm going to show you the worst one now. Prepare yourself. 

Gah! This is a picture of the concrete right outside our patio door that day. The five hens did that in an 8 hour span. The poop went on for what seemed like miles, but in reality was only about six feet. But still. Ew. It was really concentrated right by the door as if they wanted to get in and poop on everything in there, too. 

So tonight I went outside to check on them and I found them chilling on the picnic table, like a school yard gang of fluffy punks. They had an insolent air about them. I can't explain it. You have to be tuned into chicken vibes. 

As I got closer I could see that they were pretty at ease, having claimed the picnic table as their own. And then I saw just how far they had taken this marking territory thing. Der POOP AGAIN! 

 Frickity Frick! I have come to the conclusion that if they can manage to flap atop something, anything, they will poop on it shortly thereafter. They feel superior having accomplished a quasi flight. I guess maybe they get excited after? But really it's probably just because chickens poop ALL the time. My friend Heidi tried to warn me about this before I got my chicks, but did I listen? NO. Well I did but at the time I was thinking I could handle the poop (not literally) of five fat hens. 

 Check out Caterpillar. She was all like "What are you looking at? I got up here using my chicken wings and then I did this...

I rule." 

Can't argue with that I guess. 

After they were done using our picnic table as a chicken dump yard they decided to move on to fresher pooping pastures. The good news is that I'm LEARNING from these experiences. I've learned two things so far:

1. Store chicken food indoors where they can't smell it. They're like blood hounds with beaks and scary raptor claws. 

2. They like to be up high on things. Don't let them fly up on your head or shoulders because you will shortly thereafter be pooped on. 

And so it goes. Are you tired of looking at chicken poop yet? I am. I'm going to go look at a glass of wine now, and then I'm going to drink it. Cheers, Chickadees!