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maryjane
7072 Posts
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 Posted - Jan 21 2019 : 6:23:50 PM
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I've often wondered what the relationship is between chickens and cows. If you recall, I posted photos of one of my hens sleeping next to Fanci for a couple of nights before she was in labor and then throughout the night she gave birth. Fanci's new companion expressed her feelings by using a low kind of clucking sound I don't often hear.
Well, a couple of nights ago my chickens quit going to the coop at night to be locked up, not for any particular reason that I can tell. Instead, they bed down with the cows throughout the night.
It isn't as safe for them not to be locked up at night, but I love how free it must feel. Who knows, maybe the cows have talked them into staying.
Sometimes, I find them holed up in an empty stall.
Or browsing the feed bunker.
I'm telling myself not to worry. I'm hoping my free range chickens don't become fair game chickens. I don't really know how I'd round them up every night. After all these years, why did they decide to sleep elsewhere? It's a mystery to me. Every night for years, I've locked them up at dusk, counting them to make sure they're all tucked in, but a few nights ago, no chickens. |
MaryJane Butters, author of Milk Cow Kitchen ~ striving for the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain ~ |
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NellieBelle
11214 Posts
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Posted - Jan 23 2019 : 04:28:16 AM
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| Good morning MaryJane! Perhaps the relationship is "heat." I know our cats like to lay in the weathering pen where the cows are simply because they give off heat. When I milk I keep the parlor area at 56 degrees, and when I'm next to Darla milking, I have to remove my coat as I get too warm next to her. Here is an interesting article. https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/cow-thermal-energy-to-heat-homes-zmaz82ndzgoe. So perhaps your chickens just like the calmness and warmth coming from your cows. Nothing new here. Planting seeds, getting ready for spring. Moringa seeds for trees,(health benefits) and Bellflower(Campanula), foxglove, Lupine, Tansy... Plenty to keep me busy. Cold temps here and to get in single digits next week. Winter in January. |
To laugh is human but to moo is bovine. Author Unknown |
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Week of January 21, 2019
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