Oh those Silkies..!

People think chickens are dumb.  Having had chickens for 8 years, I have come to appreciate that they are much smarter than folks give them credit for.  At least, my layer breeds are.  These Silkies?  I am often astonished at just how dim they really are.

Yesterday was unseasonably warm, so I let them out of the coop.  During the cold and wet days we have been having, I have kept them locked up, because as I explained in an earlier post, they really are too stupid to come in out of the rain.

They flooded out of the coop like a herd of excited powder puffs.  Then, to my surprise they scooted through the fence and went out into the big pasture.  They climbed up the manure pile and scratched around, looking most gleeful.  All day they stayed out there, going much farther afield than they normally do.

As the sun moved lower in the sky I was very surprised to see that they were still out there.  I would have expected them to be headed back towards the coop. Chickens are quite insistent about sleeping on their own roost!

 I started my chores, locking up the ducks and the laying hens, all of which had tucked themselves into their respective homes.  I fed the rabbit and filled the goat and horse hay racks.  The little fluffy white birds were still pottering about.

It was then that it dawned on me.  Though only about 30 feet from their comfortable home, the Silkies were lost. In their excitement to be free they had wandered into unfamiliar territory and had no idea how to get home.  They seemed relieved when I scooped them up and carried them to the coop.  Long on cute, short of brains. It's ok, though, they earn their keep just by making me laugh.