It's a love/hate thing.

I want to preface this post with a statement (since Jenna will read this later) that I do not regret getting the chickens for a second. Well, that's not entirely true since this post is inspired by this morning's incident. So, let me start over.

Take 2:
If I had to do it all over, I would still get chickens in the back yard. BUT, I don't feel like I was adequately prepared for some of the negative aspects. There's a downside? My biggest complaint is the infamous "Egg Song." You're probably thinking, "oh that sounds precious." It's not. Especially at 6:30 in the morning. We had read about this egg song before we first heard it, and they tend to do it after they lay an egg. Ok, I can respect being proud about an recent accomplishment and wanting to let everyone know. I'm not sure I would be as proud since the remaining 20 trillion chickens around the world also lay eggs almost everyday, but to each his/her own. What drives me crazy sometimes is when one of the chickens decides to sing this egg song in the morning for no good reason. (First off, let me clarify, this "song" is no song. When I hear the word "song" I think of a melodious, soothing piece. Like "The Sound of Music" or something. No no, this egg "song" is an obnoxious, jarring antithesis of a song. I digress). Since they normally lay eggs between the 10:00am - 3:00pm time, the egg song(s) don't really bother anybody (by anybody, I mean Jenna and I and our 7 neighbors that surround our cul-d-sac backyard). Everyone is at work or, at the very least, awake by then. So, I don't really care about the normal occurrence. But, the occasional 6:30am performance gets to me, especially when that coincides with a day that I don't have to be up early. Like I said, it doesn't happen every morning. The only common thread between morning incidents that I can see is when I don't have to be up early. Spiteful little punks.

Now, you may be asking how do you get them to shut up at 6:30am? (You're probably really asking why you are still reading this rant thinking "boo freakin' hoo, I get up at 6:00 every morning.) Well, Jenna or I throw on a robe, run to the kitchen and grab whatever bread product is handy, and head to the back yard bumping into walls and furniture along the way in our pre-alarm clock, morning stupor. As soon as we get outside and toss some bread/chips/etc. into the yard, the "singing" ceases and we go back to bed. Every once in a while, the "singing" resumes after we've settled back into bed which results in a repeat of the previous 30 minutes activities. Luckily, no neighbors have complained yet.

So, to all of you future chicken owners, this is not intended to be a message deterring you from acquiring these funny little creatures. Instead, I just wanted to shed some light on the less sunny side of chicken "farming." It's not all scratching and egg-laying.

Below is a video of when they first started doing this last fall, when we thought it was still charming. Without further ado, I present: Graciela sings "The Egg Song." Enjoy.