THE CHICKENS HAVE LANDED!

Well I always say "prepare for the unexpected because people are stupid." I told you yesterday that the hatchery said that my chickens probably wouldn't arrive until Thursday or Friday because they for sure wouldn't ship until today. Well guess what. They arrived today! Another example of American commerce where the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. I was watching both Nicholas and Jaxon when I got the call to pick up the chickens. I couldn't wait for Sarah to get here to pick up Nicholas so I loaded the boys up in Joe's new van and headed for the post office. Sure enough, there they were in two boxes. They looked like those boxes that you get when you buy a hamster only bigger. Out of respect for Joe's new van I put plastic down in the back before I put the chickens in. They were pretty quiet on the ride home (I thought they were dead). I put classical music on the radio to calm them. I read somewhere where they like that. The trip home was uneventful and I dropped them off at the barn, headed to the house to fill up the water containers then I took the boys out of the car. So organized! Not for long. I opened the box and they all just sat there. I tipped the box over so they would come out and they just sat there. I finally turned the boxes upside down and I swear they were clinging to the bottom of the box because they wouldn't come out. I finally put my hand in the box and that is when they all flew out. Kids were screaming and birds were flying. I finally got everyone settled down, and I counted the birds. "9". Counted again, "9". What happened to the 10th bird? I remember that one had flown onto the ramp and I thought that in the chaos that maybe it went outside. I looked around and there was no sign of her. I went back in and counted, "9". The boys wanted to ride on the 4 wheeler (they were done with the chickens already), so I thought I would ride around the yard and see if I could find her. I was about 50 yards from the barn when I saw a clump of feathers. A few yards later there was another clump of feathers. I went looking for Bear thinking that maybe he got it and killed it. Bear looked totally innocent, and I like a fool am standing there asking Bear if he ate the chicken. I even smelled his breath to see if I could smell chicken or see any feathers between his teeth. Nothing. I agonized over losing a chicken within the first 15 minutes of having it home. The boys played outside while I listened for sounds of an injured bird. Sarah came to pick up Nicholas and she wanted to go out and see the chickens. I told her my tale on the way to the barn. She went in and was looking at the chickens while I looked around more outside. She calls me in the barn and says "there are 10 chickens here." No way! Yes, there they were; 5 black chickens and 5 red chickens. I have no idea how I miscounted that many times but apparently I did. I don't know what the feathers in the yard were from, but at least it wasn't one of my new babies. I felt so much better. Now I could relax. At least until Bryan and Brad came over. Brad shows up first and he decides that they need to go outside. He starts chasing them around the coop trying to catch them. He finally gets one and puts it on the ramp toward the opening. She didn't want to go out so he gives her a little boost. By this time Bryan gets here I am actually holding one. It is surprisingly calm. One by one Bryan and Brad catch the birds and take them outside. A few got out of the coop before they could catch them so they ended up chasing them for awhile. It probably took about 45 minutes to get all of them outside. I thought, great now they are outside and Bryan and Brad are going home and then tonight I am going to have to put them back inside. Typical! Oh, I almost forgot about the one that flew into the rafters. Brad shewed it out and it flew down and landed on my head. Good Times!
So its time to get them back in the coop for the night. Normally if they were used to it, they would go back in on their own, but I don't think they had time to acclimate to their surroundings. Joe and I try to herd them first. Not working. I tried to catch one. That didn't work either. I tried a basket. Bad idea. Finally Joe and I both caught one each. We put them through the window opening so they would know where the door is. I put mine through the door and I heard it kind of roll down the ramp. Oops! It took us about 20mins just to get those 2. Finally Joe gets behind the last eight and starts slowly coaxing them toward the front barn door. He's walking really slowly with his arms out and he's making a shhh sound. The chickens are actually walking forward in a group toward the door. One went AWOL but he got seven in at one time. Way to go Joe! Once the final chicken heard where it's sisters were, she went in too. Finally all bedded down for the night. I hope it gets easier. I took skin off my knees trying to rub the dirt and chicken poop off from crawling under the bushes trying to get them. So much fun already and it hasn't even been 24 hours. I have to go now and check on them. Joe won't let me sleep in the barn.