My hens come when called. Even if it is a beautiful day. Even if they’ve been stuck in their dirt-floored, boring pen for days and are finally out in the woods, which, if you are a hen, is the absolutely best place on earth, they still come. They flap, they run, they stick their necks out and hightail it.
Well, everyone except Agatha. But, when she finally looks up and realizes that her friends are no longer around, and when she finally hears me calling, she does come. Sweetly and calmly, and is happy to be carried back home.
That is so funny and so cute. I see what you mean about Agatha being nice but dim by chicken comparison. She is truly cute though.
Could Agatha just be a bit hard of hearing? Love the video!
I wondered that too.
Agatha does have something amiss. She can hear, but I don’t know if it’s as sharp as the others. When she eats she often misses the food and doesn’t have the quick motion of a normal hen. Somehow, though, she keeps plenty heavy! It makes her the perfect hen to bring on school visits.
my girls come for scratch. it wouldn’t matter if i was holding it or a big bad coyote was holding it. they’d come running. but to just stand out in a field and call “chick chick chick” they’d look at me, measure whether or not i had scratch on me, and then stay right where they were if they determined i was faking them out. what did you have in the tin you were shaking?
thank you SO much for the pumpkin post you did. i’ve since given the girls three pumpkins (on separate occasions) and they absolutely love them! and i love their yolks :)
This is so wonderful! Almost bring a tear to my eye… such precious girls :)
That is great! My husband has been wanting to film my hens running to me for weeks now so I could put it on my blog, but we just have not gotten around to it. I also let my hens out some from their boring dirt pen and they LOVE IT! And I have one who is always slow just like yours. I guess there is always one. ha! ha! Oh! And I wrote to you about my skittish cochin hen awhile back and now she has taken a great liking to me and when she is out, she follows me everywhere. She is so fat and fluffy and funny and waddles when she runs! :) So fun to read about your hens! I love your blog!
My hens do also come when called but they also come running to me when they see me coming. I always thought it reminded me of other pets like dogs. They are just a little different, they are chickens.
That is so cute. I do the same with mine and just laugh every time. Some of the younger ones are so excited they fly a little to get here faster. A few of the more mature girls don’t run much anymore so we have to wait on them. What is it about chickens that is just so entertaining? I just love them! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the awesome video, they are so cute and I finally get to hear them cluck!
OH MY GOSH! I love this! I laughed so hard. The girls are so sweet! Please tell them that, and thank you for the video!
How wonderful to see those ladies come running when called. Sweet Agatha really is in another world – such a funny little thing. So enjoyable to watch them all. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for my morning smile! I had to play it twice, it is so cute.
That was great!! Thank you for sharing it! How about a video of the goat brothers coming for a treat..I bet that is pretty funny! :)
How adorable…my girls and roo come running like they are following the king pied piper. All of us who love our chickens see their love returned toward us returned in their wonderful behavior back to us..Thank you Terry for all you share!!!
Pearl is hilarious!
aw terry, i just love this..i can watch this over n over ….:)
Thanks Terry, this is just great! I’ve got a buff (Prudence), that is just like Agatha. Would love to let the girls out in the yard and garden, but it’s not secure. My 6 hens (4 Bard Rocks & 2 Orpington Buffs) are still giving 4 & 5 gifts a day, so we have enouph extra to give to families that really need them. Little Pond Farm is beautiful!
Hi All – I’m so glad you enjoyed this. FYI, there were hulled sunflower seeds in the cup. Also, Agatha is why you’ll see me counting and recounting the hens when I bring them in. I double-check that no one is missing.
I count beaks too!
Aw, Terry give those girls a hug from me. They’re delightful!!
I have to admit I have watched this several times over already,just cant help it! Makes me smile every time.
How wonderful! I remember we had a little poodle that used to chase stray hens into the pen. They were never too keen to go back to their roost at the end of the day. Are their dangers in the woods? Foxes?
Many dangers in the woods. They’re not let out unless I’m outside, too. How nice that you had a chook-herding poodle! I’d have liked to have seen a video of that :)
Hulled sunflower seeds do the trick for me too. But if they’re being difficult and I really, really need to put them up before I have to go somewhere I give them a tiny bit of canned cat food. Hope that’s not a big no-no. But to them it’s heaven sent! I can’t feed my cats canned food outside while the hens are out because they’ll run the cats off to get at the canned food!
My girls don’t know what’s in the can I shake, they just know it’ll be good. Cat food is okay – protein and meat is fine for hens, but only as a small percentage of their diet. Do yours come running from the sound of a can opener? How do they know what you have when you call?
I do the same thing, and I love that they come running every time. The sound of goodies shaking in the tin and me calling “c’mon girls”…works like a charm.
Terry, I just show them what’s in the bowl and they know it’s special!
<3
I’ve a friend who has a poodle with herding instinct. Interesting what dogs inherit.
Lovely video, Terry!
Ooooh lots of snow today! I love how Candy is hanging out w/ the girls vs being alone in her hutch.
Your video is great- they sure do come running! Tx for sharing.
LOVE the video!! What fun to watch you call the girls!!
Great video! I love the titles.
Never had well-trained chickens here-
To return the chickens to the coop, it was a matter of waiting till dusk and picking them out of a tree they liked to roost in.
But in the daytime I could call the hens by imitating the sound the rooster would make when he found food to share: “took-took-took-took!”
Is’t it the happiest feeling in the world!! I love my girls!! Thanks for making me smile…
I’ve watched this video over and over….got such a kick out of it. I just love this site. Have told a number of other’s about it also.
You have such a nice way with the hens and Candy the bunny. I also love my new cookbook you wrote. Thanks so much for the enjoyment.
Celia
:-)
Just saying…I have watched this video over and over and over!!!!
It brings such a smile to my face every time!!! I just love chickens!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
Thanks- everyday when I let them out it’s like a real replay of that. Can’t help but smile.
I love this! My hens do this too, it makes me feel so special!