Chicken Shit and Other Fowl Language

Sly as a Fox

2009-06-13T05:49:00.000-07:00

Common Usage: I know what you are thinking. This is a phrase about poultry and fowl phrases. Why is there a fox phrase? Time will out, hang in there. As many of us realize, this phrase is used to describe someone who is clever in their thinking and planning. They can be down right sneaky and conniving at times with their diabolical thought processes.
Coop Observation: Here is where you find out how the phrase fits this blog. Our first year of raising chickens was a lesson in the predators that will take and kill your chickens. We quickly learned what each predator will leave behind for carnage and which will leave no carnage. We learned which we could trap and those we couldn't. The fox has proven to be the most intelligent of all predators and has made it obvious that they are going to be impossible to catch. We have had to go to great lengths to protect our flock from the sly old fox!

A dumb cluck

2009-03-19T04:49:00.000-07:00

Common Usage: This phrase can be used as a substitute for stupid. A very effective substitute because usually when using this phrase the person will be too stupid to realize you just called them stupid.

Coop Observation: Sometimes a hen will lay an egg and begin setting. This hen will not lay any more eggs and you have to remove the eggs or they quit laying altogether. In a situation where the eggs are unfertilized and the hen lays an egg only to stop laying and "nest", they are considered clucks. The dumb part comes in because the eggs would rot and never hatch. Hmmm….sounds like a few folks I have run into in my day.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch

2009-03-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

Common Usage: We’ve all done it. Gotten excited about something that might happen and plan for it, hoping that it will happen, when actually it might never happen. Heck, I’ve got the lottery spent for when I win it and I don’t even get any tickets. I'll never forget the Christmas we bought my brother in law one of those fake scratch tickets where the person thinks they won $20,000. That is good family fun right there. I've never laughed so hard.

Coop Observation: Chickens lay dozens of eggs every year, but for many reasons beyond their (and our own) control, not all of those eggs will hatch and grow into chickens. For that reason, it is not a wise thing to count each egg as a chicken before they have hatched.

You said what???

2009-02-11T04:07:00.000-08:00

Phrase: Chicken scratch
Common Usage: This phrase is used to describe the handwriting of someone that is sloppy, illegible and hard to read. Handwriting experts will say that this person probably has some deep inner secrets that they are hiding, or that they just wish to keep to themselves. I say hogwash. (Is that a phrase for a new book, hmmmm????) People with messy handwriting either didn’t care to learn to write decently in school or they just don’t care to write decently now.

Coop Observation: Chickens scratch at the ground as they are eating. This will leave behind a trail of crisscrossed lines in wet or damp ground. These lines are lovingly referred to as “chicken scratch”.

Disgusting, but useful...

2009-02-09T03:57:00.000-08:00

Phrase: Picking the shit
Common Usage: Well, perhaps not so common anymore, but if you grew up hanging out with your old farmer grandfather like I did you probably heard this one. I picked up a lot of phrases going to coffee with grandma that you just don't hear everyday. Some of them are better left forgotten. This phrase is used to describe a group of folks hanging out together just chatting (here in the Midwest we would never gossip) about the goings on in town. Of course, again in the Midwest, this is done over coffee and some sort of baked goods. Preferably something cooked with lots of butter, sugar and whipped cream added on top. No, it isn’t low fat, and we don’t care.

Coop Observation: One of the things that I really love about my chickens is that they will pick through the piles of horse poo looking for leftover grain that didn’t get digested. This in turn breaks up and spreads out the poo so that it will dissolve back into the ground more quickly. Of course, while I understand the similarities in the phrases, I’m not quite sure what sharing some friendly news (not gossip) about Marge and the new custodian at the high school named Joe has to do with picking grain from poop.

My grandma was a "tough old bird"

2009-01-13T04:55:00.000-08:00

Common Usage: You usually hear this phrase to describe an elderly woman with a lot to say. Maybe this woman has been through a lot and just won’t quit, or quite possibly, and more likely, this woman has reached the age where she doesn’t censor what she says and doesn’t put up with any crap from anyone. I personally cannot wait until I reach this age.

Coop Observation: We had a tough old bird. This hen had been top hen for quite some time. She had been attacked by a predator and even went so far as to go missing for a few days. She came back with a few scratches, but just as tough as ever. Nothing could get that hen down and she didn’t put up with anything, because she was a “tough old bird.” The other theory behind this phrase is that when eaten, older chicken meat tends to be tough. But we won’t even go down that road.

"Picking on"

2009-01-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

Ugh - a personal pet peeve of mine...

Common Usage: I think every poor mother out in this world as heard the annoying whine of a child’s voice as it grates out the old adage, “Moooommmmm, he’s/she’s picking on me.” No phrase uttered in the human language has the power to set a mother’s nerves on fire like that one. As we all know from our younger days it is employed when one child pesters or annoys another child so therefore it is the second child’s God given right to pass the annoyance on to their mother.

Coop Observation:
This is similar to the pecking order in observation in that some chickens, will choose another chicken to pick at using their beaks. They will go to great lengths to pick at the weaker chicken, often chasing them and cornering them to get a good hard jab in at their fellow coopmate. At times one chicken will literally peck another chicken to death, which we all know is what children are trying to do to their mothers.

A personal favorite "banty rooster"

2008-12-19T04:43:00.000-08:00

Phrase: Banty rooster
Common Usage: Many times this phrase is used to describe someone, usually a height challenged male, who feels the need to strut around, puffing out their chest and acting bigger than they are. The term is used to describe some rather undesirable characteristics in a person such as bragging, picking fights and showing off.

Coop observation: Uh, yeah. This one is about as right on as a description gets. In a mixed coop of bantam size roosters and full sized roosters, the smaller “banty” roosters are by far the loudest and most obnoxious. Their defiant little crow proclaims, “I may be small, but I can crow louder than YOUOUOUOUOU!” They can often be seen strutting around the hens, fluffing their feathers to make themselves appear bigger and picking fights with the least aggressive of their larger counterparts.

And then you have "pecking order"

2008-12-15T03:46:00.001-08:00

Phrase: Pecking order
Common Usage: This term is used when introducing new animals (be it human or other) to an established group. There tends to be a period of time where the boss animals feel the need to put the meeker animals “in their place” through bullying. After this period of adjustment the group can carry on as each of them has established their ranking within the group. For some reason the animal doing the majority of the pecking is usually the large, ugly one.

Coop observation: When you add new chickens to your flock you see the pecking order in action. The higher ranking and more aggressive chickens, roosters and hens alike, will chase after the new arrivals pecking them and bullying them. It usually only takes a short amount of time before the order of superiority is established and peace is restored in the coop.

A personal favorite: Chicken Butt

2008-12-12T03:51:00.001-08:00

Today's phrase is, perhaps, not as widely used in today's everyday language as the former, but all the same, it is great fun!

Phrase: Chicken butt
Common Language: This phrase has a variety of uses. Many times it is added on the more common phrase “chicken”. Perhaps to make it more humorous. It has also been known to be used as a reply to the question, “Guess what?” to which the reply would be “Chicken Butt”. (For additional fun, when a person asks, “Guess why?” be sure to respond, “chicken thigh”.) My very favorite use of the phrase though would have to be when someone asks, “What’s up?” This is the time to use the phrase, “A chicken’s butt when it’s eating.” I promise you it will leave them speechless.

Coop observation: Stating the obvious; when a chicken bends over to eat grain or insects off the ground, due to the fact that their legs are centered under their body, when one end goes down, the other end comes up.

The phrse "chicken"

2008-12-11T04:48:00.000-08:00

I'll begin this blog with entering the most basic of uses of "chicken" language in every speech. Many of us have used the phrase "chicken" at least once in our life time. Let's study...

Common Usage: The phrase “chicken” is used to describe someone who is too frightened to try something. Perhaps it is dangerous, new or just a silly fear that prevents them from venturing out. Of course some people have chosen to add the word "shit" to the end of the slur, changing the phrase to "chicken shit". I am unclear as to the reasoning behind that though as I have never observed chicken shit to be particularly frightened of anything.

Coop observation: This phrase could not be more accurate. When turning new chickens loose to range around the farm, it can take days before they work up the courage to venture out of the coop. When a group of young chickens was moved to a new coop, they would hide under the nesting box whenever someone was near. I actually made the comment one morning, “You guys are a bunch of