One of the reasons chickens are so entertaining is because their abrupt, disjointed head and neck movements have a wonderful cartoon-like quality. Whoever designed an animal that combines the features of a Whac-A-Mole (minus the whacking, of course) and a bobblehead doll had to have a great sense of humor.
Although chickens walk around gracefully enough, they simultaneously bob up and down with a goofy staccato rhythm, especially when they’re excited by the realization that their waiter (to wit, me), is about to deliver a meal.
In the case of our three hens, this is especially obvious when I head out to release them from their coop first thing in the morning. Thanks to the fact that there’s a small window in the front of the coop, Snow, Stella and Nala can see me coming from a distance, and they know that means breakfast is only minutes away.
As I approach the coop, individual heads pop into the window, in rapid succession. Snow hops up, and then disappears. She is immediately replaced by Nala, who just as quickly drops from sight. A second later, Stella’s head jerks into view, then she is gone.
This process will repeat itself a dozen times or more in the course of one minute. And if the hens work themselves into a real food frenzy, two of them may commandeer the window together, but only for a few seconds until the solitary pop-ups resume.
It’s as if an old Looney Tunes cartoon has come to life. Foghorn Leghorn would feel right at home.
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