Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Moving Day

Nicholas and I moved the hoop house from the barn yard to the pasture proper. Unfortunately, this involved dragging it quite a ways because it would not fit through the narrow gate directly joining the enclosures. The already too long journey was made worse by the heat of the early afternoon.

We managed to catch/herd most of the chicks to the new hoop house location. About thirty holed up under a cedar tree along the fence line. After HOURS of attempting to catch all of them, twenty still remained. Hot, dehydrated, hungry and generally irritated we drove home for a couple of hours. Nicholas inquired with Hal as to the chances the chicks might find their own way to the new location. He shared his doubt that the chicks would be "inclined" to find the hoop house on their own. 

Nicholas and I drove back around dusk and found the chicks much more willing to leave the cedar tree. Working in tandem, we drove the chicks up the hill to the new location. Only one proved to be dim witted, even for a chicken. After a few minutes he finally managed to find his way through the fence. The day ended with all of the chicks with the hoop house on fresh pasture.

My only regret is not having a camera to capture Nicholas' absurd crouching posture he assumed to herd the chicks. At this point, I also think the story would do well with illustrations akin to the wonderful Hyperbole and a Half blog.

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