Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program

Well, some days I rale and rant against injustice and bullshit and things I really can't do a damn thing about but it always comes back to the things I can control- my chickens being one of those things. Or at least I delude myself into thinking I have some semblance of control over them.

Today was the day I decided the younger chicks needed to be moved from their little pen into the chicken house to prepare them to be mixed with the older ladies. A friend of ours told us that if we let them loose in the chicken house before we let them loose in the coop, they'll know where they're supposed to go at night, so that's what I'm doing.
Here they were in their custom-made baby pen:


They're getting so big. I have one guy whom I feel sure is a rooster. We are calling him Henry. I've been trying to get a good picture of him but he moves around a lot. It wasn't easy, catching all those strong little birds and transferring them, one by one, to the hen house, but I did it. And they were a little freaked out for about two seconds and then they busied themselves trying to pull up the bamboo that's growing in there and scratching around in the straw. I think that's one of the things I really like about chickens- they may get traumatized but they snap right out of it and then forget that life was ever anything but good and exciting and filled with whatever treat may come their way for that moment.



That's Henry there on the left, the brownish reddish chicken with the bigger comb than all the rest and the big, thick, Ticonderoga #2 yellow pencil legs. Elvira is in the bottom of the picture and please- why are her wing feathers sticking out like that? She is starting to grow some but is still half the size of all the others and those wing feathers! I have never seen this before.
Have you?

After I moved them, I gave all the chickens some watermelon as a treat and they were very delighted at that. The big hens were a bit disconcerted that I'd closed the outside door to their hen house and pecked at it for awhile, peck, peck, peck, as if they were knocking to gain entrance. As soon as I put the watermelon down though, they abandoned their efforts at door knocking and decided to eat.



I am a fool for those birds. Do you hear me? A fool.

And here's one more of Elmira, my brave little chicken that Mr. Moon saved with sugar and Centrum Silver.


She may be little but she eats as much as the rest of them and always gets to the new treats first. I have great hopes for my little crazy-feathered girl.

And so it goes. All the babies are growing up and being tended and treated well and I hope I'm making the right decision about mixing them up with their big aunties. They don't even all have names yet. So far we've named Elmira, Buttercup, Henry and Sookie. That leaves four more who are nameless, but they shall not remain so. Kian named Sookie, and Riley was suggesting names for the others like Shalayla and other complicated things I would never remember but Sookie was a good hen-name and so it stuck.

And who knows? Perhaps I shall name one Shalayla. It better be a fancy chicken for such a fancy name.

29 comments:

  1. I think if it weren't for the neighborhood association having a fit, I would have some chickens by now thanks to you and Kathleen's influence.

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  2. Which one is Sookie? And do you say it Bill-from-True-Blood-style? "Sookeh"

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  3. Does Kian watch Avatar: The Last Airbender? They have a Suki. And that show ROCKS.

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  4. Jon- This is why I can never live anywhere with a neighborhood association. I would be fined, fired, and crosses would be burnt on my yard. And that would be the first week.
    Eff the neighborhood association! Get chickens!

    DTG- It's the butterscotch colored one. And no, I do not say it like that. I hate that show. I just say, "Hey Miss Sookie!" in a bright, cheerful tone of voice.
    I love you!

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  5. Well, Ms. Moon, I've been away from you a few days and now I've caught up and loved every second of it, as usual. Except for the moments when you made me cry which also usually happens with you. I've come to not mind it so much because I know that right around the bend you're going to crack me up and tell me something about a chicken that I never knew before and somehow that thing will help me raise my little brood here a little better. So thanks.

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  6. I am seriously on the edge of my seat waiting to hear how this tale of chicken introduction progresses ... please, please keep us posted!

    And oh so ditto on the neighborhood association. I'm having a hard enough time with neighbors.

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  7. They've grown so fast!

    I thought the same thing DTG did. "Sook-eh is mahn."

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  8. That chicken looks exactly like an Elmira. Freakish.

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  9. My Dear Ms. Moon,

    I dig Elmira. We have a lot in common (as witnessed by the following portion of your post): but she eats as much as the rest of them and always gets to the new treats first. So does SB, that's how my ass grew so big. Survival of the fattest. Darwin's principle, remember?

    I like Shalayla. I also love the name Bella. My next cat is Bella. The first one was The Venerable Bede. That's a hard name to top.

    Love to all,

    SB

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  10. Your chickies are so pretty and friendly looking. I just want to pet them. Do you ever pet them? I'm not sure how bird's feeling about being petted. Hmm...

    And I totally thought the same thing as DTG and gingermagnolia. "Suuhk-ay Stackhouse". I loves me some Trueblood.

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  11. Ms. Windy- There is a lot to learn from chickens. Mainly- keep searching. A bug will turn up eventually.

    Nola- I'm not sure the flock combining will happen today. We shall see. There are a few problems, one of them being that Elmira is so small she could fit through the wire in the big coop. Dang.

    Ginger- You guys and your True Blood. You can have all of my True Blood. My Sookie, unlike that fake-accented chick on the show is a lovely and fine being.

    Mwa- I know!

    Ms. Bastard- I know a dog named Bella. I'm not sure a hen should be named Bella. It's sort of too pretty. Hen's names should be sensible. (I'm making this shit up, obviously.)

    Ms. Lemon- They do not come to us to be picked up, I'll tell you that, although I hear that some chickens do. If we do pick them up, they calm down and let us stroke them. And they feel so good.

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  12. We are going to have to have a chicken tutorial before you leave for Mexico (which is only a week away!!!). Maybe we should invite the blog world out.
    Also, is there a chicken named Helen? I think that is a good chicken name. What about Linda? That means "pretty" and they are nothin' if not pretty.

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  13. One should obviously be named Penny.

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  14. OMG you should totally hold some sort of name-contest and let "us" name one of your unnamed chickens.

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  15. Yes, May. We DO need to have a tutorial on the chicks. And Helen is a beautiful name and I think I shall name one of the white and black ones Helen and her sister, Lucille for my childhood friends who were Helen and Lucille and were twins. Thanks! I love you!

    DTG- Penny. I have thought of that. Miss Penny. Yes. We need a Penny.

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  16. i love your chickens! i like the little guy on the right in the 1st picture. u should be glad i dont live close to you. i would snatch that little one up in no time!

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  17. SJ- I think between Helen, Lucille, Penny and Shaylala we may have the job done. But what's your suggestion?

    Learner- Nope. Can't have her. That's Elmira and she's Mr. Moon's chicken.

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  18. Learner- But you could be her godmother.

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  19. Still missing my chickens. They were named Barbara, Laura, Jenna, and Lil Babs after the Bush women. They each bore a striking resemblance to their namesakes. Oh well, sad they're gone (the chickens, that is)

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  20. Well, I was late to the party so if all the babies are named, that's ok =) Lucille is my grandmother's name, so I'll be her godmother, deal?

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  21. Michelle- Ha! Those are great names. My friend Kathleen has named some of her chickens after the Golden Girls and some after characters in a play we were in. It's fun to name chickens!

    SJ- Okay. When I figure out which one is Lucille, I'll post a picture.

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  22. O.K., I get the chicken love, but want to know if that's the entry of your house (not the chickens, the photo at the top of the blog). Because if it is, when can I move in? The color of the walls, those wide plank floors...it looks amazing.

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  23. Elizabeth- Yes, that is my house. Of course you haven't noticed the paint peeling from the ceiling (look up) or the mold coating the walls. Sigh. Still- it is perfect, peeling ceilings, mold and all.

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  24. Aunt Becky- They're ALL beautiful to me.

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  25. Well, what d'ya know, Mrs Moon?!?

    Henry! Really! A rooster!
    Your very own Pullet-Sur-prise Chicken!

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  26. godmother to elmira, Mr. Moons little chicken he saved, huh? boy, ive never been a godmother. this is exciting. what responsibilities would godmother entail?

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  27. Ms. Learner- Well, I guess you'd have to be in charge of Elmira's religious instruction, for one thing. Since I think the Chicken Religion consists of worshiping tasty fruit and bugs, she's pretty much already got that one covered. Maybe you should send her some hair-care products to try and train those feathers back. Maybe a barrette or something.
    No. Really, I'll just tell her that you love her. How's that?

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.