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I think the first picture in this set makes it pretty clear, that, despite the title of this post, I was not “up with the chickens” during the stint when I was “chicken sitting” for friends, as this chook looks pretty testy, “Dude, where have you been? We’ve been up for hours. Let us out of this cage already!” Also, I cannot say that I find chickens to be the most endearing animals. They sometimes cock their eyes and look at one with some pretty intense looks. And when I came at lunch to let the dog out, they ran toward me and my Subway sandwich, bouncing as they ran, like a flock of Jurassic Park raptors. Nonetheless, I find the eggs they produce both soothing to look at and yummy to eat. And even though the chickens were long up, it was delightful to be up in the morning relatively early taking care of beasts and seeing the early light in the flowers.