Hello All,Well....it's hot in Texas! How hot is it? It's so hot that even the snakes wont come out and sun bathe, instead they stay where it's cool - like my chicken coop. Yep, I've had this ongoing battle with a big ugly rat chaser- chicken snake. I've named him Homer 'cause he kinda reminds me of the dad on The Simpson. He goes in and eats the eggs my sweet hens lay and makes my Rooster, Groggy Foggy (a descent relative to FogHorn Legg Horn) gest all in a tizzy.
I saw an ad on Craigslist a few weeks back where a fella was giving away roosters. Well, the magic word FREE struck me first and then I thought - what's a farm without chickens and fresh eggs. Wahoo! So my wonderful and always courageous son, Andrew, reluctantly agreed to go with me to pick up the rooster. Good thing 'cause the place was really in the East Texas backwoods and I would have never found it by myself.
The rooster is a handsome Red and Blue Laced Wyandottes. Most chicken breeds are given names where they are discovered like Rhode Island Reds etc. but Groggy Foggy's breed is named after the American Indians also known as Hurons.
(see http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=512-BLR_Wyandottes)
We chose Groggy Foggy because the other roosters picked on him. The owners were a great couple and the guy really knew a lot about chickens. Always begin of the mindset that critters like humans need partners in life I asked if we could buy him a few hens. The guy was so pleased that this rooster was going to actually be able to have his own little harem he just beamed at the thought. So Andrew and I came trucking home with a dog carrier holding a rooster, a Rhode Island Red, a Jersey Gaint and a Plymonth Bard Rock. The next day the rooster's previous owner emailed and asked if I wanted another Bard Rock .....apparently she was best friends with the Rhode Island Red and was depressed to lose her best friend. My sweet sister, Diane and her charming and handy, hubby WC was visiting so they drove over to get Miss Rockette. It was great too as they was working on a koi pond and the Rooster owner had built one so they exchanged ideas and tips.
So we initially housed the chickens and the rooster in the patio. Since Groggy Foggy thinks wake up call is 4;42 am it didn't take long to decide we needed a chicken coop - a distance away from the house. We decided the stall attached to the Llama Casa was prefect. WC put together the little coop giving each lady a nice cozy place to settle in and lay her eggs. We fill it with fresh hay. He even gave them a walkway to prance on with little steps so they don't trip going up and coming down. Diane painted them and beautiful bright sunny white and girls are quite pleased with their posh surroundings. Foggy is pleased too as he makes sure everyone knows with his loud crowing and flapping of those brilliant colored wings.
The first sign of snakes was when we were cleaning out the stall of T posts and my darlin' sister was reaching down to pick one up and I saw a copperhead all curled up in a circle. We both jumped around thinking &^#$@& and finally WC gets a hoe and puts an end to it. Sorry if it offends anyone but I have strict rules about snakes trespassing. Next, I see the longest black tail know to man sliding under pallets in the feed room, I know he is under there and that is my first glimpse of Homer. Then, a few days later I am walking up the chicken coop and there he is....all black and ugly. I stop and he continues to slide over the 2x12 board we install at the bottom of the fence to keep the dogs from digging under and getting into the coop. I am not a fisherman so my measurements are pretty exact and when I say his head was over 4 inches long I mean it! Seriously, he is big, black and determined. So shaking like a leaf on a willow tree I grab the hoe (which has become a permanent fixture at the chicken coop). Noting that he is large enough to eat my girls I start banging on the metal exterior of the barn. He looks at me with must have been great disgust and slides away. Where, I don't know....so I for reinforcements. HAAAANNNNNNKKKKKKKK....so what if he is 30 miles away in the concrete land of Cowboys in suits riding Hummers. "I just saw the biggest, ugliest snake in the whole world and he is in my chicken coop".....to which he casually responds; "get a hoe and kill it". Folks, I rode horses even horses that less than six months ago were wild on the range in Nevada but I dont do snakes......
So after much debating Hank decides he will call my neighbor Phil, a retired Fireman, to come see the humongous snake in my chicken coop. Phil arrives and immediately tells me snakes are not a problem and we should learn to live with them. Sure! Then we spot a copperhead and it's bigger than the last one....he kills it. (Well, maybe we don't have to live with all snakes) I explain I understand the circle of life and the need for all of God's creatures...but Homer is eating my eggs and I feel it is not right for him to benefit from our hard work so he must go.
Homer is a tricky one and we cannot find him. But, there is one less copperhead on Golden Curls Ranch and I rest easier that night with that thought.
To be Continued......
