The Pecking Order

We got to Salem, MO on Tuesday evening around 5:30. Janice and Jennifer met us at the hotel. We went to a Mexican place for dinner where we could sit outside. That was nice.

I forgot to bring a jacket on the trip, so I grabbed a fleece from my car. I'm glad I had it as it was a bit nippy. The food was delicious, so we'll definitely go back. We had a nice evening of catching up. We hadn't seen each other since January. 

Janet and I did not go to the farm until Wednesday morning. We were greeted by the gatekeeper (Janice) and...

...5---count 'em---five dogs! Big dogs. Starting from the white one in the back going clockwise: Lola, (Janice), Mugsy, Zelda, Jack and Wilbur. The two cats were no where to be seen.

Quite a reception for sure!! We could hardly drive through because it felt like we might hit one of them. 

We spent a little time touring around the place. Even though Jennifer and Parvez have owned this place for 14 years, I had never been there. I usually see Jennifer in St. Louis where she still has a home. It's only been recently since she retired that she's moved to the farm permanently--during Covid. Parvez has been here several years already. Jennifer just went on weekends. Their daughter, Ranya and her husband, Marcelo live in the house. 

Janice is living here:

Now don't get me wrong. This RV is very nice. Butttt, it's not a permanent home. More on that in another post. 

I was most enthralled by the chickens.

Many of them have names, but I can't begin to remember them. Actually, I didn't really try.

I loved the chicken "lessons!" I had no idea. I love learning stuff. I guess I never really thought about chickens. I thought when the hen was ready to have chicks, she just laid a nest full of eggs and sat on them until they hatched. It's not like that at all. They only lay one egg a day. 

Then, Jennifer just piles them up and a hen will lay on them. After 21 days, some will hatch and some won't. The hen doing the sitting might not even be the birth mom to ANY of them! Still, they treat her like the mom and she treats them like her chicks. There are 3 moms and a total of 8 chicks.

I should have asked some more questions. Like, how did two eggs get in this nest. Maybe another hen came and laid a second one in the same spot. 

They are really beautiful.

I'm pretty sure these were the roosters. There are two others that are penned up since they are mean. Unfortunately for them, they are headed to the chopping block. 

The chickens are free range--meaning that they get to just roam all around the property. I tagged along with Jennifer to collect the eggs. I told her it's like a treasure hunt to which she said, "Or, an Easter egg hunt?" Duh, of course---exactly like that!!

Right around 6 p.m., they return all on their own to the hen house. It's pretty amazing. There even seems to be a pecking order when they go in. Some wait outside until it's their turn. 

Apparently, chickens are sort of like scavengers. They eat anything. Jennifer feeds them and counts them to make sure they are all there. 

I don't think I could ever have chickens because of my "counting" problem. I'd be constantly counting them. All day. Some time I'll have to do a post about counting. It's just certain things and certain times. Things that seem to need counting. 

Anyway, I learned a lot about chickens. But, I'm pretty sure I did not convey it all correctly here. I still have a lot to learn. It was fun! 

This was only the beginning of our adventures. More to come!!