I have listened to the recording several times, and read the previous comments, and this is my best attempt at a transcription. There are still several questionable words—see my notes at the end. In the chorus, the words in brackets are the ones he inserts sometimes, and omits sometimes.


CHICKEN YOU CAN ROOST BEHIND THE MOON
Frank Stokes/Beale Street Sheiks

Boy, d'you ever do anything like stealin' chickens?

CHORUS: Now [it's] chicken, chicken, oh, chicken,
You may go up in a balloon. [Doggone ya!]
Chicken, [chicken,] you may hide behind the moon. [Doggone ya!/Confound ya!]
[Now] chicken, I never let a fowl be.
Ten thousand dollar 'ward for the [or "furthest"?] fowl on earth,
He don't roost too high for me.

1. I got to thinkin' 'bout chicken late the other night.
Man, I couldn't hardly rest.
I jumped out o' bed, grabbed up my own shoes,
Thought o' where some chicken was at.
I grabbed big -------, stuck 'im under my arm,
Some'n' I never let fall.
I don't think I robbed your hen house
Till I get the roost', poor chicken an' all. CHORUS

2. Oh, that chicken made me awful mad the other night, man.
That's some'n' I didn't like to take.
I grabbed my little haversack down 'cross my back,
Grabbed the chicken right by the neck.
Said, I turned around, quick as I could,
A chicken all way up there.
I won't steal meat right out of confinement(?)
I'll steal a chicken from anywhere. CHORUS

3. That police 'rest me last Friday night.
You couldn't think of what 'twas about.
I'm goin' down the alley where I lived at,
A lot o' chicken tied in my house.
Say, you may carr' me to pen'tent'ry wall.
I'd go to work out my time.
Just as quick as you put me on the L&N track,
I'll have chickens on my mind. CHORUS

* * *
Chorus line 5: I think the word is "'ward" meaning "reward"

Verse 1 line 5: I think he's referring to some kind of equipment he uses for stealing chickens, maybe something he would personify by giving it a nickname, as a man might call his gun "Old Bertha." But he wouldn't take a gun, would he?

Verse 2 line 7: "Confinement" is just a guess; I still don't think it's right.