The Craziest Moment of the Day

My craziest moment (and this is saying a lot, considering I teach in a high school) is the evening feeding time.  This is because we have been letting the chickens out to free range during the day and some of them have decided the horse stall is their hang out.  For some reason, they can figure out how to get into the horse stall, but not out - or at least not out on the correct side of the fence.

I can open the divider between the sheep and horse stalls a bit - enough for a chicken, but not enough for a ram, but there is always one hen (and I think it is the same one every day) runs up to the opening, and then zips to the side at the last moment.

At the same time, Crazy Horse is freaking out at the little zippy feathered body, the sheep are bellowing for food and the rooster is on the other side of the fence accusing me of abusing his spouse as loudly as he possible can.  The hen in question is not so quiet herself, probably egging on her rooster.

I have tried luring her through the tack room with feed, using two manure forks to extend the reach of my arms to herd her through the hole, trying to grab her and toss her over the fence (this actually has worked a few times, but she is getting better at avoiding my grab at the last nanosecond).  It is always a circus.

My husband, on the other hand, opens the divider, scares on chicken through, and they all run through one after another - even the hen with avoidance issues.  This is just so not fair, but I am grateful he's been home to help lately.

Today is driving lesson day - so that means I hang in Hilo for 2 hours driving around in the old beater that is the only car we allow kids to drive.  The heater is on perpetually, which on a sunny day makes it less than fun - but on a rainy day is really not fun, because you can't open the window.  I might hit the farmer's market today, and I definitely have to pay a few bills.  I should stop by work and do some copying for Monday, because we were busy doing planning for next year yesterday and I didn't finish prepping for the week ahead.  I feel less resentful about having to leave the property today, because it is raining so hard, there isn't a lot I can do today beyond repotting a few peppers in the greenhouse and starting a few seeds.