Monday, August 11, 2008

While Doug was Away. . .


While Doug was away, I got stuck in the chicken coop. It was one of those mornings that I needed to do some spiffing up in their little section of the tool shed, so I replenished their feeder, tidied up their nesting boxes, cleaned out & filled their waterer and brought it back into the coop. Didn’t think much of it when the door slammed shut behind me. But when I turned around and pulled the cord which connects, through a little hole in the wall, to the latch outside, nothing happened. Pulled again. Nothing happened. Tried again. . . same outcome. So, the third time was not a charm. I wondered what would be the best course of action.

The only other hole in the coop is the one the chickens go in and out of. I’m not nearly that skinny. Furthermore, I have this fear of getting stuck in tight places. (Probably a bad experience from my birth, I’ve concluded.) I had fleeting thoughts of having to subsist on raw eggs & water for the remaining several days until Doug returned from his fishing trip. But, thank God, I had my cell phone along. And the battery was not dead.

We’ve been here for just a year. It’s long enough that I should know all the neighbors’ names by now, but the only one that was coming to mind was not all that clear. I phoned 411 & gave the operator the (approximate) name, and the name of our street, explaining my predicament. This was her first chicken coop entrapment, she said. Fortunately I wasn’t far off with the name & she connected me to the neighbors’ home. The fellow that answered the phone, I am sorry to say, has Alzheimer’s. So when I talked with him and explained who and where I was, I wasn’t quite sure that he would be able to make sense of it.

It took about ten minutes for them to arrive. I think. Could have been less. Or more. By that time I was calling an urgent ”HELLOOO?????” at every little noise I could hear. I heard the Mrs. say that they were coming. Thank God for neighbors, and I’m also very grateful that they were actually at home.

The cord had gotten twisted around the latch, which explained the fact that it didn’t function properly. I think we’re going to be re-working that little detail.

Oh, enjoy the photo of the eggs. The larger, blue-green & brown ones are from our chickens. The smaller white ones are from the pigeons. We eat those, too - they’re good for baking.

Meanwhile, In the Pasture -

Here's finally a photo of the barn we had built. We're delighted that we now have water & electricity to it, as well. :-) Should make next winter much easier.

We have put the boys & a few of the girls together, hoping for some beautiful little lambies in January/February. We put Don with Pebbles, and Bacchus with Anemarie & Helena. Don is white, and Pebbles is a white/brown badger face. Bacchus & Anemarie are both white/black badgers (stunning, both of them), and Helena is black. Both boys are newbies at this whole process, as are Anemarie & Helena. Pebbles was a great Mom for us last year, and we hope she’ll be a good example for our young ladies.

It appears that Don views breeding as an Olympic event. After countless laps around the pasture in pursuit of his lady, with much huffing & puffing, things have settled down to a dull roar in their stall. In the adjacent stall, Bacchus is taking a more subtle, suave approach, nuzzling & nudging the girls. We’’ll see which works better. . . I’m betting on Bacchus. Pebbles just appears to be rolling her eyes every time Don takes off after her.

4 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Oh no! Stuck in a chicken coop. Yvonne, that's just too funny. Thank goodness the neighbors were home but Ira and I would have come, laughing all the way of course, and rescued you.

10:40 AM  
Blogger Leigh said...

Oh, Yvonne, what a story! Whew. I know you'll laugh about it someday, but it wasn't funny at the time, was it!

I love your barn. Nice photo.

3:36 PM  
Blogger Tina T-P said...

I suppose calling 911 wasn't on the agenda for this one - "Oh, Mr. Sheriff, please come get me out of my chicken house..." Now, that one would probably have made the Herald... :-) T.

11:55 PM  
Blogger Pamela said...

Hilarious! I can't help it...I know it wasn't fun while it was happening, but stuck in the coop?

You do realize that everyone within 50 miles of you is going to know about it? Trust me, things like that travel FAST!

Thanks so much for sharing the "fall down funny" story. Made my day!

2:07 PM  

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