I thought this was goodbye chookdove??

A little over a year ago, we bought four little chickens. Chooks make me happy. I love the way they are fat and round, and at peace. I love that they are easy care pets, that they give you a present everyday, and only ask for your rubbish in return! They go about their business and don't sweat the small stuff!

When our chooks were about 9 weeks old, a dove appeared in our yard. It was a young dove as well. I think it arrived by accident but he busied himself with the chooks, enjoying their scraps.

Every other day I was surprised to see the dove joining in with the feeding, but the relationship changed when my chooks started to lay. From the day the eggs came, the dove never left. But it was also then that the doves behaviour became a bit strange. All of my chookies would sit in a line berk berk berking, and cluck cluck clucking, laying their little eggs.. and at the end of the line was a little fat dove hoo hoo hooing as hard as he could and looking at the chooks for approval. He would ruffle his feathers, and look to the chooks, he would bob on the dirt, and look to the chooks. When my chooks would come running for the food, so would the dove. When I would open the pen for the chooks to have a yard run, out would toddle four fat chooks, plus one confused dove. In the afternoon, when I would open the pen, time for bed my chookies, in would toddle four fat chooks and one confused dove.

Our children all loved watching the dove. There were so many giggles as we would watch him prance around the yard, trying his very very best to be a chook. It was them that named him ChookDove. When friends would arrive, one of the first things my boys would say is, have you seen ChookDove? Come out the back and have a look, its a silly Dove that thinks hes a Chook!

So we have watched and loved ChookDove for sometime. The funniest thing is that he would never try to fly away. Sometimes he would fly to the top of the coup, or sit on the six foot side fence. Once or twice he flew to the pergola roof, but quickly returned to his beloved chooks. My husband joked that he was so fat on chook food that he couldnt lift his own weight.

When our chooks stopped laying, started escaping and kept pooing in people areas, it was time for them to move on. I thought that our time with ChookDove would end when we moved the chooks out to a friends farm. We tried to catch him to transport him, but he wouldnt be caught. I worried about what would happen. My husband assured me, that he would fly away in a few days and be happy and free. We all said our goodbyes to ChookDove.

But that evening, with the chook pen gate left open, for there were no fat chooks to put away, ChookDove toddled into the pen and put himself to bed. In the morning when I opened the sliding door to take the scraps to the back garden, ChookDove came running to greet me, and get full pickings from the food. But most surprisingly, when the day was clear and sunny and the breeze was gently blowing. ChookDove bobbed up and down on the dirt, then rustled and puffed his feathers and gently put himself down, and started hoo hoo hooing, concentrating really really hard on trying to lay me that egg!

I thought this was goodbye ChookDove? But I am ever so glad you've decided to stay!