After refilling water jars and feeders at night, I like to talk to my chickens. It seems they listen to what I have to say (which doesn't happen often around here) and several of them have become quite brave, coming up and investigating my hand or looking me over at length as I sit and talk.
I made a little noise tonight with my mouth, the kind of tongue/roof of mouth/lip thing I'm always telling the boys to stop making. The two or three hens right in front of me froze, tilted their heads and looked at me. I made the noise a little faster and louder, and a hush fell over the brooder pen as every single chicken stopped still, stretched it's neck out and turned it's head sideways to listen.
I've never seen so many necks stretched out so tall! Each was trying to out-stretch the next one, but they were silent and still otherwise as they listened to my noise. I switched to another mouth sound, a little faster, and their necks dropped back into regular position. When I started to talk to them again, they all loosened up and started slowly back to whatever it was they were doing before I entranced them.
I felt very powerful, just for a minute. Then I went back upstairs to wash the dinner dishes and reality came crashing back in.
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