Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Chicken Love


I am so in love with my chickens. I didn't expect to enjoy them as birds so much as egg-delivery-systems. They are, however, absolutely charming. At 11-weeks old now, they have become my favorite form of entertainment: farm t.v. as some people have called it.

Martha, Nancy, Abigail (Gabby), Ida, and Michelle. The First Ladies. They run out of the coop at top speed, seeking their favorite dust patches to bathe in. They ruffle up their feathers, scratch at bugs and grass, squawk/fly over short distances. Now that they are used to Lady (and vice versa) they scuttle around her, looking to get the best grass that she herself likes to munch on. Last night Ida even jumped up on Lady's back, looking to get the perfect shoot of grass sticking up through the deck fencing. Surprised them both. The cats watch them intently, looking for an opening to attack, but I think that as they get bigger, Tom and Fluffy are content to just watch. Those beaks are not afraid of putting a cat (or a dog) in its place.

And as much as I love them now, just imagine how exciting it will be when one of us finds that first egg.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Did you build your coop? We are planning to get chicks very soon, and we need to build a coop. Any suggestions? Are your chickens' nesting boxes and roosts in the roofed part of your A-frame "tractor"? Any chicken keeping tips? We have a black lab and three cats:-)

My email is homehum@gmail.com--if you have time to reply :-)