Well, this visitor was in the chicken's usual spot today. He has been around for about three years now. I call him The Beautiful One. This year I have seen four different males in the field but this is the only one with white stripes on his head. Like the chicken he too was feasting on the dropped grain and, no doubt, he also defecated somewhere but I bear him no ill will. Last winter we had seventeen pheasants in the garden one morning ... I was very happy to see them. So what is it about that poor chicken? Why do I accept one visitor but not the other? It doesn't make sense. Perhaps it is because the Pheasants are wild birds. There is no one managing them; no one is breeding these birds to shoot them; they look after themselves. The chicken, on the other hand, has its own garden to go to; it gets fed every day; it has no reason to be in my garden. I sound like a candidate for Chicken UKIP!! I really do have a serious problem don't I? SO....
Such a beautiful visitor, Patricia. He would be welcome in my garden. P. x
ReplyDeleteI have an attachment to the pheasants and partridges that live in the field across from our house. I see them every day and watch them grow so it is nice when they come into the garden. I left the chicken to scratch up the border this afternoon .... I am trying!
DeleteAre the pheasants as destructive as chickens?
ReplyDeleteSeventeen of them sitting on the plants and nibbling the green shoots was a bit of a concern but they don't tend to stay long - they roost in the trees, grab a bit of breakfast and go back to the field. The chicken destroys the place all day then goes home to roost and lay its eggs! So no, the pheasants are better behaved : )
DeleteHens can be so destructive in the garden I know this only too well from past experience. The pheasant are so beautiful and to have that many all at once must have been quite a sight.
ReplyDeleteI have chickens and pheasants roaming around my garden. My chickens follow me everywhere. If I run; they run. If I am indoors; they tap on the window. The pheasants just make me laugh. I can drive along our whole farm track behind them and they won't move out of the way; they just keep on running. I would hate my garden to be without these beautiful creatures, but they are all destructive in their way. The chickens make a mess of our smart paving in the courtyard (I WILL get a gate) and dig up newly planted shrubs and eat newly sown lawns (grrrr). While the pheasants scratch around in the seed beds in the kitchen garden (I know it's them because there is a gate). The thing is, our chickens are little bantams so I don't find them as destructive as my friends' hens. Added to which, they are my chickens. I am not so sure I would forgive anyone else's hens. Perhaps you should get your own chickens ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat pheasant is simply gorgeous! Your chicken/pheasant dilemma is similar to my rabbit/partridge problem. For some reason, I'm always quick to shoo the rabbits out of the garden, while I limit myself to taking photos of the partridges!
ReplyDeleteThe pheasant looks like a painting! Such a beautiful visitor for your garden. All that trouble from the chickens and no eggs would not be fun.
ReplyDelete