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| Titty and me ( two tits together) |
One of the hens that arrived after a fox attack in Prestatyn a month or so ago has developed an overwhelming need to be cuddled. Every time I kneel down to feed the chicks or collect the eggs, over she will come and without pause, hesitation or fanfare she will climb up onto my lap to be stroked.
She is not after any food. She is not hiding from bullies . It is plain and simple that she wants and actively seeks out a physical contact that is pleasurable to her.
Not a normal behaviour for a constantly foraging animal at all.
And of course I am flattered by her attentions
Every morning I will break the routine of feeding and watering and will now sit on the grass and call her . Eagerly she will bound over and scramble up into my lap with her eyes half closed in silly poultry type rapture, and we will sit together for a few minutes, like a pair of right old sad bastards.
Her neediness is all rather touching.
I have named her, Titty
Bugger alone knows just why.
( note my new "scotch Egg" T shirt in the above photo....it is a slightly belated Birthday gift from J at
http://octoberfarm.blogspot.co.uk/. I am thrilled with it........)
My partner's sister had a rooster which sat in her lap and watched television with her each night. Eyes half closed in bliss.
ReplyDeleteHave you been losing weight? You are looking v. trim in that photo.
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ReplyDeleteI hope that you and Titty will be very happy together but please be sensitive when you let Chris know that you have found somebody else. You may have to move to Hengoed in Denbighshire or Titty Hill in West Sussex. Love the T shirt. Wonder if they make them with lamb bhuna down the front.
ReplyDeleteWonderful story to start my day!!!!
ReplyDeletedid this behavior begin when you put on your new shirt! haha!! maybe she likes scotch eggs!!!
ReplyDeleteThere was a feature on the radio yesterday about how the average chicken is more intelligent than the average human toddler. I didn't find it at all surprising.
ReplyDeleteactually i think they may be smarter than the average adult !!
DeleteSo sweet...possibly she was petted and cuddled by her previous owner.
ReplyDeleteI had never read Swallows and Amazons until I sat down to read it to my son. I think I got as far as the first chapter. Just couldn't continue reading about a character called Titty.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely name for a lap-hen though. :)
Love the tee shirt John. Titties and bosoms, you are most certainly a breast man!!
ReplyDeleteJo xx
Love the T-shirt!
ReplyDeleteAh feathered affection & a new Scotch Egg T-shirt; you are a lucky dog. x
ReplyDeleteAaaaaaah...lovely
ReplyDeleteThat's rather touching. One of mine squats and spreads her wings when I'm near by and likes to be picked up, but she's never sat on my lap.
ReplyDeleteShe's waiting to be mated by you cro
DeleteThat's sex behaviour!
That would make a very captivating blog-post, with photos. Ahhh! How cute!
DeleteI can't imagine that a white T-shirt will stay that color for long, once exposed to your Bosoms. I do love your way with animal names.
ReplyDeleteChickens can make affectionate pets.
ReplyDeleteNo chickens here, but at least I can now enjoy them vicariously.
ReplyDeleteWe will never really understand or know what any animals etc are thinking or what they know. Maybe 'titty' knows that you are someone after her best interest, or maybe she acknowledges that you are the one that feeds them all, and appreciation in her own way needs to be shown.
ReplyDeleteMaybe after the fox attack the other hens have explained what you did to console them. I'm only guessing now because I'm not a hen (I can hear laughter).
Either way, give her your love and attention as you don't know what she's already been through to become so affectionate.
as soon as I saw the title of this post, I knew it had to be you..
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to say. No pets, no birds in my life, and your ones bring new surprises every few days.
ReplyDeleteThis made me smile. Maybe she's been watching you with Rooster Cogburn and thinks she'd like similar treatment, so up she hops. And, maybe she just needs that reassurance.
ReplyDeleteOn the second day of our two-day chainsaw class, we were at a large farm with a wooded area, where we could practice our cutting technique. During our lunch break, i went to use the loo inside the house, and on my way to the house, i saw a huge, orange Maine coon cat down at the barn, easily 500 yards away. At the end of the class, as it was a long ride home, i decided to use th loo again. Most of the other students had already left, and as i re-emerged from the the house and put on my shoes (they asked that we remove our shoes to keep down the dirt tracked inside), that cat ran from the barn up to where i was sitting, and jumped in my lap. I had to pet him, of course, and after several minutes, he jumped down, but continued circling my legs and head butting me. After several more minutes of petting him, telling him how beautiful he was and that i needed to get back to the kitties at my house, he sat quite still, and watched like a sentry as i walked to my car and drove away.
I have no idea what possessed him to run to me in that manner other than he knew a sucker when he saw one.
All animals know a softie when they see one...how sweet. Love the shirt!
ReplyDeleteAs so often my thunder has been stolen by a previous comment, in this case by jaz@octoberfarm. I was going to suggest that Titty is getting all lovey-dovey for your positive strokes 'cos she wants to mother that scotch egg - but I shan't bother to say it now.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that whenever you do a blog about matters poultry one has to be quick off the mark - otherwise, like today, I find my own comment way down in the.....erm.......pecking order.
A lot of people here raise their chickens to be lap chickens.
ReplyDeleteNothing like a little relaxing time.
Have a great day, John!
She's going to be upset when she finds out you only want her for the eggs.
ReplyDeleteI wish my cat were more like your hen!
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect example of why I strongly believe that animals have individual/distinct personalities. It's the only explanation.
ReplyDeleteTwo of my girls liked cuddles & two didn't though I did try with them !
ReplyDeleteGood post to start my day. Sit Titty, stay Titty, good Titty.
ReplyDeleteAwwwwwwwwwww...could hug you for being so sweet.x
ReplyDeleteI like Titty, too. Double entendre, anyone?
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Good name Titty. Reminds me of that French & Saunders period drama sketch when Dawn French was called Clitty Comequick.
ReplyDeleteOur French weather girl on telly is called "Fanny".....they introduce her with "and here comes Fanny"....how can anyone take that serious?!
Very, very sweet. The t-shirt is fabulous too. x
ReplyDeleteAw, that's rather touching. I am guessing you read Swallows and Amazons when you were a young 'un.
ReplyDeleteGood old titty walker
DeleteNice to know that even chooks need love...
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought maybe Titty was one of the ends of Bosoms. Left Titty, Right Titty. Made sense to me! A cuddly hen, how sweet!
ReplyDeleteWas Bingley watching? He'll want a cuddle now too you know.
ReplyDeleteMy brother had a chicken like that. He rescued her after she fell off a poultry truck. He named her Lucky Linda. She was very affectionate toward him, and wanted a cuddle.
ReplyDeleteawwwwwww, every creature needs a little love. you are very kind to titty.
ReplyDeleteJohn that is so sweet...thanks to your blogging I'm paying attention to all the chickens and other fowl seen on the way to work...normally I only had eyes for the miniature goats and donkeys...
ReplyDeleteShe may not be the smartest critter on the planet, but she's smart enough to know what a tender heart you have. Such a sweet story.
ReplyDeleteTotally unrelated to your post but Adam's grandma is scheduled to have an operation this morning and then go straight to intensive care so I might see you today or over the weekend if you're working :-) Unless it gets cancelled, of course, which seems to happen all the time!
ReplyDeleteI hope she does well Hannah
ReplyDeleteI am working all day tomorrow
I will look out for you all
X
Thanks, John. Apparently she is extremely high risk, hence being transferred to intensive care.
DeleteHilarious. And tragic. I wish you luck. We once experienced that same sense of shock when we learned that the fat content of the two fast-food hamburgers we regularly enjoyed contained a week's worth of fat.
ReplyDeleteAww how sweet. Chooks can be very affectionate creatures. My daughter always carried her favourite chook Ginger around under her arm. I once caught her reading bedside stories to some of them sitting on her bed. They too had their eyes half closed and appeared to be listening. It wasn't chicken little thank goodness, for animals that intelligent it would have scared them half to death.
ReplyDeleteJo in NZ
it's why I love chickens...they've got so darn much personality! love the shirt...since you can only have 2 SEs a week...at least you get to wear one everyday (well except wash days)
ReplyDeleteNice shirt! People are always commenting on the names I have for our birds, but I sure as hell don't have one named "Titty"!
ReplyDeleteDO you have guinea fowl? We just got three and they are hilarious. Not to mention a tad high strung!