More rain = cranky chickens.

It has been raining since early this afternoon, just about when the yard guys finished their mowing and trimming. I was happy to see the rain, but even happier that it waited till the grass was cut.

The chickens, however, were not happy. I kept them in their coop for the entire time the mowers were going... between all the noise and not being able to walk around the yard, they were clucking and carrying on in there. They would settle down when I went into the coop to check on them, but after they realized I wasn't coming in with food each time, they walked to the gate and just stood there, waiting for the gate to magically open.

Later on this afternoon, it seemed to be clearing up so I let the chickens outside-- they ran out of the coop as soon as the gate was opened wide enough for them to get through. (You've heard of cabin fever? This was coop fever.) They walked all around the yard, scratching at the grass and drinking rainwater from the puddles.

Two hours later, it started to rain again. The weather wizards had predicted heavy rains, so I thought it would be best if I got the chickens into the coop before it started pouring. Dolly (the red Rhode Island hen) and Jaye (the black/white Dominique breed) will follow me when I call them, so they did follow me to the coop-- having a plastic container filled with bits of cereal helped also because I kept shaking the closed container to keep their attention. Let's go ladies... let's go before we get soaking wet here....

Once Dolly and Jaye started to make their way towards the coop, the others followed them. Last one in was Edie (jet black Australorp)-- that chicken has a mind of her own, and she took the long way around the yard, underneath the bushes, under the rose trellis, back around the courtyard, then finally she took the right turn to the side yard towards the coop. As I watched her going the long way around, I thought of the "Family Circus" comic strip where the little boy goes around in circles and zig-zags instead of walking in a straight line to get from here to there.

It started pouring about half an hour after the chickens were in the coop. I could hear them clucking and cooing and making all kinds of noises--- especially Dolly, who has a loud attention-getting clucking sound when she isn't happy about something. Usually, though, her sounds are soft and soothing. Apparently, she doesn't like lawn mowers, and she certainly doesn't like the rain.

My husband went out to the coop to check on the chickens before it got dark... they were all up on the roosting bar, huddled together at one end, and still very unhappy with the rain. Audrey (one of his two Araucanas) wouldn't let him pet her, and she started pecking at Henny Penny (the other Araucana) to make her move over on the roosting bar. For the first four days when we kept the chickens inside the coop so they could get used to their new home, they were all quite content in there. Now when we have to put them in the coop before they're ready to go in, because of lawn-mowing or a rainstorm or whatever, they cluck their discontent for all the world to hear. The two Guinea hens (Jeanie and Dottie) just seem to follow the chickens and keep to themselves, but they were squawking when they got wet in the rain as well.

It has amazed me that each bird has her own personality, her own little peculiar habits, and her own distinctive sounds. I can tell Dolly's sounds from across the yard, and whenever I call out to her, she will cluck-cluck to answer me. The two leaders still seem to be Dolly and Audrey, and I don't think that will change. Now that they have established their "pecking order," I think it's set in stone and not subject to change. Or set in chicken feed, you might say.