That Gawky Teenaged Phase, The Chicken Version.
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The Penguin -- 5 Days
Remember how adorable our chicks were, when we first got them? Little egg-sized balls of fluff, they were.
The Penguin -- 3 Weeks
Well, right now, they're in an exceptionally awkward phase. I keep thinking about teenaged boys, just starting to sprout mustaches. They may be beautiful some day, but right now, they're particularly scruffy-looking.
The Bantam Menace -- 5 Days
This little one was the first to get any adult feathers. She's the tiniest of our flock, but in some ways the most grown-up. She is, sadly, a real chicken. She's always cowering in the corner when we open the brooder. If she covers up her own eyes, she seems to comfort herself. I know from previous bird handling that covering a bird's eyes minimizes stress, but I'd never seen a bird do this for itself. That whole cliche about ostriches burying their heads in the sand to hide from scary predators must actually have some basis in avian reality. But since so few of us have experience with birds, it has lost much it its meaning.
She is growing some lovely mottled feathers. She's one of our Easter Eggers, and will hopefully lay green or blue eggs.
The Big Blonde -- 5 Days
This bird is our largest chicken. We think she's the other Easter Egger.
The Big Blonde -- 3 Weeks
She's the slowest to mature, despite her size. She's got more baby fluff than any of the others.
The Big Blonde -- 3 Weeks
While the Bantam Menace is starting to sprout chestnut-colored feathers on her breast, this girl is getting white feathers. She also seems to have a lot of feathers around her chin (if chickens can be said to have chins). I suspect that she'll have a prominent beard.
Robb and I had discussed naming the chickens after the Bennet sisters, from Pride and Prejudice. We think we know who Lydia and Lizzie are. But none of our chickens are a good candidate for Jane-ness. Unless something changes, we aren't likely to have a hen who is both serene and beautiful.
The Songbird -- 10 Days
I think this is our Silver Laced Wyandotte. When she grows up, she's going to be a beautiful creature.
Right now, she's the bravest of the birds. She's what people politely call "food motivated" and she's figured out that I almost always am offering some interesting treats. In addition to chicky-chow, our birds now eat finely chopped up swiss chard, dandelion green, beet green and lettuce. They eat uncooked steel cut oats, and boiled eggs. Today they ate some mashed up apple. I really hope that our chickens develop diverse eating habits, because I plan to use then as feathered garbage disposers. I want them to eat my weeds, and all the garden plants that get leaf miners. And I really, really want them to eat snails.
I'm handling the chickens quite a bit, because I don't want skittish hens. I've found that if I sit in a sunbeam and place them on my lap, they'll go into what Dodie Smith called "a coma of bliss." They spread their wings loosely at their sides and slip into nap-mode. It's pretty funny, because they seem to be fighting the urge to sleep. Their heads will sink lower and lower, and just before they're completely unconscious, they'll snap awake for a split-second before they start nodding again.
Kind of like teenager in a boring lecture class, when you come to think if it.
The Penguin -- 5 DaysRemember how adorable our chicks were, when we first got them? Little egg-sized balls of fluff, they were.
The Penguin -- 3 WeeksWell, right now, they're in an exceptionally awkward phase. I keep thinking about teenaged boys, just starting to sprout mustaches. They may be beautiful some day, but right now, they're particularly scruffy-looking.
The Bantam Menace -- 5 DaysThis little one was the first to get any adult feathers. She's the tiniest of our flock, but in some ways the most grown-up. She is, sadly, a real chicken. She's always cowering in the corner when we open the brooder. If she covers up her own eyes, she seems to comfort herself. I know from previous bird handling that covering a bird's eyes minimizes stress, but I'd never seen a bird do this for itself. That whole cliche about ostriches burying their heads in the sand to hide from scary predators must actually have some basis in avian reality. But since so few of us have experience with birds, it has lost much it its meaning.
The Bantam Menace -- 3 Weeks
She is growing some lovely mottled feathers. She's one of our Easter Eggers, and will hopefully lay green or blue eggs.
The Big Blonde -- 5 DaysThis bird is our largest chicken. We think she's the other Easter Egger.
The Big Blonde -- 3 WeeksShe's the slowest to mature, despite her size. She's got more baby fluff than any of the others.
The Big Blonde -- 3 WeeksWhile the Bantam Menace is starting to sprout chestnut-colored feathers on her breast, this girl is getting white feathers. She also seems to have a lot of feathers around her chin (if chickens can be said to have chins). I suspect that she'll have a prominent beard.
Robb and I had discussed naming the chickens after the Bennet sisters, from Pride and Prejudice. We think we know who Lydia and Lizzie are. But none of our chickens are a good candidate for Jane-ness. Unless something changes, we aren't likely to have a hen who is both serene and beautiful.
The Songbird -- 10 DaysI think this is our Silver Laced Wyandotte. When she grows up, she's going to be a beautiful creature.
The Songbird -- 3 Weeks
Right now, she's the bravest of the birds. She's what people politely call "food motivated" and she's figured out that I almost always am offering some interesting treats. In addition to chicky-chow, our birds now eat finely chopped up swiss chard, dandelion green, beet green and lettuce. They eat uncooked steel cut oats, and boiled eggs. Today they ate some mashed up apple. I really hope that our chickens develop diverse eating habits, because I plan to use then as feathered garbage disposers. I want them to eat my weeds, and all the garden plants that get leaf miners. And I really, really want them to eat snails.
The Songbird -- 3 Weeks
I'm handling the chickens quite a bit, because I don't want skittish hens. I've found that if I sit in a sunbeam and place them on my lap, they'll go into what Dodie Smith called "a coma of bliss." They spread their wings loosely at their sides and slip into nap-mode. It's pretty funny, because they seem to be fighting the urge to sleep. Their heads will sink lower and lower, and just before they're completely unconscious, they'll snap awake for a split-second before they start nodding again.
Kind of like teenager in a boring lecture class, when you come to think if it.
Comments
Annalisa
Cindy at Rosehaven Cottage
Our tortoises eat snails - big ones and little ones but not the first year hatchlings who can climb. Those the torts can't get up high enough to retrieve.
Yes, ducks eat snails, too, and they give delicious eggs, our Jemma gave us five big eggs in one day, and then a tiny one last. I didn't know ducks did that.