The flock evolves

The days of summer are quickly passing. Our tiny flock is growing daily - enjoying the rhythms of their people feeding them treats diverted from the compost. No sign of eggs yet, but our cloaked hen is proudly testing his vocal range. It would seem that his days are, indeed, numbered.

We have decided to put a timeframe on his stay. We will be picking up four additional hens next Saturday, in an effort to sustain our egg production capacity through the winter and, truth be told, with an eye toward halting the trepidation we have toward losing yet another bird.....and what if our two should somehow become one.

So, his days are numbered. The week ahead promises to be joyful. The lavishing on one who is headed for the dining room table.....

The cube is evolving - a detachable run contains the flock nicely. The run can be shifted around the yard, something we hope to do during the fall and winter, particularly in warmer, sunnier weather since their cube is largely in the shade.

People = food

The chickens have finally figured out that people = food, and they now follow us around the yard. They'll even eat scratch (seeds) out of our hands. The down side of this is that I was outside reading a book and they kept pecking my toes.

They've lost a lot of their original fear, and now come right out of the cube when we open the door. They're all over the yard, in the garden, and up on the deck. They'll perch on anything that's slightly elevated.

Chicken One is definitely a boy. Not only in looks and size, but he's also more aggressive. He hasn't crowed yet, but pretty soon he'll need to go back to the farm...

The Cube has a hat

They keep growing. It was rainy for three or four days this week, so we didn't have them out and about. When the sun came out on the afternoon of the fourth day I opened the cube and these big birds were staring at me. Whoa! When did they get so big?


We're starting to talk about what to do about Chicken One. He's going to need to go back to the farm at some point... In the meantime, he definitely "rules the roost".

The Cube is in progress. The Chicken Mom got the roof structure on it (I'm not familiar with buildings, so I'm going to call it wrong thing, please forgive me). There are funky rafters (made of blue-gray beetle wood from the interior), and then a plywood covering. We're still waiting for the actual roof itself, which apparently is going to be a green roof with strawberries.

So the Cube now has a fun hat.

Bigger Chickens

They're growing. They're starting to perch on anything they can get up onto.

The Cube has most of a roof on it now. We'll see if we can get an update from the Chicken Mom about how their house is coming...

Chicken Two perching on my arm.

Disappearing chickens

We had the chickens out last weekend and, in a distracted moment, the dog charged them. We found one wedged in the fence and the other two... were gone...

After about half an hour of searching and lots of panicking, two little pairs of feet were spotted under the coop. We left them alone and an hour later they were out behind the coop, pecking away.

But ever since when I've left the door of the Cube open for them they haven't come out.

Finally this afternoon I wanted a good look at them so I picked them up and deposited them out on the grass. They immediately went back behind the coop. I think this is a safe area for them, with lots of dirt to scratch in.

And they're finally acting like chickens! They were scratching with their feet, pecking with their beaks, and fluffing their feather in the dirt.

They still have some baby fluff on their heads, but otherwise they're covered in feathers.

Chicken Two resting in the sun behind The Cube

Chicken Two was in a nesting mood. She nestled down the in the sun behind the coop for a little while, and then when I picked her up she nestled down in my hand. When I put her back down she dug a little nest in the dirt. I hope this means she'll be a good nester and egg-layer!

Chicken Two nestling in my hand

I think I can declare it official now - Chicken One is a boy. Check out his picture...

Chicken One - check out his comb and tail feathers!

He has a well-developed red comb, and is larger and significantly lighter in colour than the other two. Oddly enough his legs are still dark.

He's also the most assertive. When I had Chickens Two and Three up on top of the coop they just hung out and looked around. Chicken One, however, could hear his girls down below, and decided that it was his duty to get down to them (even if it was awfully high for a little boy chicken).

Checking out his girls down below.

And there he goes...!

Chicken Three is still quite camera-shy. She's also the only one who still has a large spot on the top her head. The other two have lost their head spots which were originally so distinguishing, and now are just speckled.

This isn't the best photo, but if you look carefully you can see Chicken One in the very back, must lighter in colour and with a very red comb. Chicken Three is in the foreground. (Click on the picture to enlarge it for a better view.)

Chicken Intelligence

The chicks continue to grow. I'm increasingly convinced that Chicken One is a rooster. It's getting very white, while the other two are staying quite dark.

L-R Chicken Two, Chicken Three and Chicken One

The chickens will fly up to four or five feet now, but close to the ground. They do this mostly when agitated.

They've discovered the compost bin. It's conveniently close to the cube, and full of worms, wood bugs and grubs. Good eats!

Chicken Three

The three of them were hanging outside The Cube tonight. I got a little too close and Chicken Two was startled. She screeched and flapped, and launched herself around the corner and back into the cube.

Then she realized that she was alone. Alone is not a good state for a chicken.

She began to screech-peep, calling to the other chicks. WHERE ARE YOU? OH DEAR OH DEAR WHERE ARE YOU?

The other chicks were outside and heard her peeping. so they peeped back at her. Chicken Two could hear them peeping on the other side of the wall. She went into a frantic state inside the cube, flapping up and down against the wall, screech-peeping loudly. WHERE ARE YOU? YOU'RE LOST! I'M LOST! OH DEAR OH DEAR!

I see where the story of Chicken Little came from...

Finally I just picked her up and dropped her outside with the other chicks. And everything was happy again. La la la.

Chicken Two


Chicken One

I'm just noticing in these photos that Chicken One's legs are still quite dark... Which is usually the sign of a hen. Hmmm...

Should we get a betting pool going?

The chicks are now a little over three weeks old.

Chicken One again, doing the twist

Combs

The chicks are getting combs. And pointy tail feathers.

Chicken One is about 50% larger than the other two. There are bets going as to whether Chicken One is going to turn out to be a rooster.

Chicken One

They like to be out in the yard, pecking around. We've been leaving them out in the yard for an hour at a time without incident. Sometimes they lie down in the grass, which is really odd looking. Sometimes they get in little fights and flap their wings at each other. They leap right over one another with the aid of those new wing feathers.

Chicken Two - smaller and not as far along developmentally

Chicken One posing

Chicken Three is shy - no good photos...