my girls

Posted by marne on November 30, 2006 in farm | 8 comments

I haven’t taken pictures of the chickens for a few weeks, so while I’m home this morning waiting to go to the airport to pick up my sister-in-law, I braved the cold wind and took a few. The girls are already 9 weeks old. They’ve grown up so fast *sniff*. I was at the feed store, my new weekend hangout, recently, and they had just received a new batch of chicks. I was amazed by how tiny they were. They were so cute, it made me want to get some more. I’m going to resist the temptation for now. Our little coop is crowded as it is. I don’t remember if I mentioned that seven of then have gone on to new homes. Three went to one co-worker and four went to another. I was relieved to find good homes for them with owners willing to provide the occasional photographic evidence that they are not being eaten, but are being kept as pets and for egg production. :o)

After a short period of typical teenage attitude, I’m happy to report that Fuzzy is once again my favorite girl. She ignored me for a few weeks, and I thought she had forgotten all the good times we shared watching TV and knitting. It turns out that it was just a phase, and she once again is the first at the door when I open it, and is quite happy to jump up on my knee or climb up on my shoulder. It looks like the last of her feathers are coming in on her back, under her wings, and she suddenly has this big tail:

The Buffs are still adorably cute and fluffy, but this one was a little nervous when I carried her over to this table and set her down. She wouldn’t stand up:

How cute is she, though?

This little Barred Rock is the piglet of the group:

Besides Fuzzy, she is always the first at the door when I come visit. I’m pretty sure it’s not my company she’s after, but the treats that I always bring with me. She always gets more than her fair share, but she’s one of the smaller chickens. She’s also the most curious. She was pecking at the camera lens while I was trying to take pictures. I have a few shots of nothing more than blurry black and white feathers.

The other day I had some left over brown rice, so I thought I’d see if they’d like it. I held out a little, and they sniffed at it suspiciously, but sort of backed away from it. Meanwhile, as he usually does when I’m at the hen house door, Bear had sidled up and stuck his head in to see what was going on. He sniffed at the rice and then started eating it. That was all it took. Suddenly the chickens all wanted some rice, and I couldn’t feed it to them fast enough. It was so funny to watch. The chickens all seem to like Bear, or at the least are very curious about him. He’s also gotten to the point where I know that when I’m out there, he won’t hurt the chickens. He sniffs at them and watches them, but he doesn’t drool as much any more. I know it just about kills him that there are all these birds and he can’t have them, but he also knows that I love them and he better not hurt them. I don’t have any plans to let them free-range while he’s out there, though. That would just be asking too much from him.

UPDATE: I almost forgot, one of my brother‘s songs will be featured on tonight’s episode of Men in Trees. Please watch! We’re pretty excited here at chez Lucy :o)