Adventures In Chicken Herding

Another journal entry from last year:

I was up before Sam this morning. Thank Goodness I had my wits about me! Mr. G had to leave for a job extra, extra early, so I was up way before the sun. After I got everybody squared away and off for the day, I was piddling around in the kitchen setting up to make soap. The sun came up and Sam began to crow. But something wasn't quite right. I thought to myself, "He sounds a lot louder than usual, like he's right at the window or something."Well, he WAS at the window- he was up on the deck, along with the girls. AARRRGH- I had forgotten to close the run up last night! Now chickens will go to roost when the sun goes down, but once they've had a taste of freedom in the morning, it's a whole different story! They had no desire to go back into confinement- despite the fact that the dog was about to bust her bladder needing to go out (she and Sam hate each other and a direct confrontation would not be a pretty sight, I think).So, thinking quick (which is quite a feat for me at 6 in the morning, not being a morning person), I grabbed a scoop of cracked corn and marched out into the flock ( well a rooster and 3 hens CAN be considered a flock, I think). Sam immediately decided to assert his authority and ran at me with his hackles out, dipping his wing and doing his rooster strut. The girls just kind of fluttered about clucking. So I grabbed the broom in one hand to ward off an attack, and started shaking the dish of corn. That got their attention, so I led them off the deck, holding Sam at bay with the broom, and tossed the corn into the run. Sam and two of the girls made a bee-line for the corn, but poor old Emily ( who is not the brightest critter on the planet), was running up and down OUTside the run- watching the rest of them gobble up goodies and trying to figure out why SHE couldnt have any. So there I was trying to shoo her into the run, which caught Sam's attention.He decided he'd try to come out to rescue her from whatever evil he imagined I was trying to inflict on her, but I figured if he got out I'd never be able to get him back in. So there I was, at six in the morning, trying to confine an irate rooster bent on escape while trying to herd an intellectually challenged hen into the run. It was not pretty.Nor was it quiet. I figure the neighbors didn't need their alarm clocks to wake 'em up for work this morning, so they owe me one. Tonight, I remembered to close the chicken run- I don't want a replay of that episode any time soon!