Childhood Friends

My oldest daughter has had an up and down relationship with the chickens from the very beginning. She was so tiny when she saw her first chicken, she’s never known life without them. As a baby she would sit in her stroller in the coop or just outside the door when I gathered eggs. The chickens didn’t pay her any attention other than an occasional glance.

As she grew and spent more time playing outside she grew to love the chickens. She’d call to them and say their names. She had to go with me every time I went out to feed or gather eggs. She counted the chickens among her best friends.

One summer day this changed. She was on the porch eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when along came a hen. Before my 18 month old daughter could react, there were several hens all pecking at her sandwich. Soon the sandwich fell to the ground where all the hens scrambled to get a bite of it. She cried and screamed till she was rescued.

From that day on she avoided the chickens with all her might. If a chicken ambled too close to her she would stiffen and scream at the top of her lungs. She was terrified.

Winter came and the chickens mostly stayed inside. My little girl usually stayed in the house when I went out to feed the chickens so they didn’t see much of each other for a few months. Much to my surprise, when Spring came the chicken terrors were forgotten and my daughter was once again friends with the chickens. Now 2 years old she loved to gather the eggs into her basket and carry them to the house for me. I was pleased.

There was an incident with an ornery bantam rooster when she was 3, but other than being afraid of Duke the rooster she has been fearless when it comes to the chickens. She’ll happily put her hand under a hen to get an egg. She’s not big enough to catch full size chickens but a couple of the bantams are very tame and she will pick them up and pet them. She knows the chickens names and personalities. Once again they are good friends.

Yesterday she went into the chicken house with me while she was eating a cookie. She was barely in the door when a hen spotted the cookie and started reaching for it. Now 4 years old, my daughter isn’t tall enough to keep a cookie out of reach and she immediately caught on to the threat and alerted me to the situation by screaming. I quickly got her outside, but I wonder, will they continue on as friends or are we due another period of animosity? I’ll take her out with me tomorrow, and we will see.