The whole flock
Our chickens are two-months old now, and because I work from home several days a week, they often have the run of the yard all day long. They travel around together in their explorations -- and all parts of the yard have been thoroughly explored! They have their favorite spots for different parts of the day: when they want to lie in the sun and have a warm afternoon siesta, they choose a sunny patch of dirt in front of Tom's pink geraniums; when they want to hang out and chill while observing the goings on, they perch on the back of the kiddie bench; when they are up for active digging and pecking, they wander into the thicker parts of Tom's yard and disappear into the shrubbery. Then, the only way to find them is to look for the shaking dahlia bush, or listen for their faint chirps.
Timothy
This is Timothy, Tom's Lace-Winged Wyandotte. She is is at the top of the pecking order. Whenever the flock has been wandering about for a while and Timmy feels that it is time to bring everyone together, she hurriedly chases after all the other birds to round them up, giving each one a sharp peck on the head to let them know that she is still boss. She watches the sky closely if she hears anything suspicious (like a crow cawing overhead) and she is the most evasive when Elsa or I try to pick her up. You have to move fast to catch Timothy.
Sunshine
This is Sunshine, Elsa's Buff Orpington. She is the most friendly. She walks right up to you and doesn't run away if you reach down to pick her up -- which Elsa does all the time. Here is the chickens daily routine: In the morning, they get up as soon as it grows light, and they are usually down in their coop eating breakfast and pecking around by the time I am drinking my coffee. I can see them from our kitchen window. When Elsa is ready for school, she runs down into the backyard and lets the chickens out. She usually has to say hello to Sunshine and hold her for a bit. The chickens spend the rest of the day wandering around the yard, digging, scratching, eating grass and bugs, sitting in the sunshine, rolling around in the dirt (this feels good to chickens), and arranging their feathers. In the afternoon, when I bring the kids home from school, Elsa and Roan go into the backyard and spend some time chasing and holding the chickens (at this time of day Elsa tries to give all of the girls a chance to be held -- Timothy is tough!)
Sarah
This is a picture of one of our Ameraucanas -- possibly Sarah. These beauties will lay greenish-bluish eggs. Sarah is Cobalt's chicken, and she is hard to tell apart from Roan's Ameraucana, Chickee-Chickee. The best way is to look at their heads and beaks. Chickee-Chickee still has a spotted head (unfortunately, the mohawk Sarah had a chick has faded). Sarah has a dark-colored beak. Sarah is a gentle little chicken. She is usually one of the first to head up the ramp to bed at night. Once in the hen house, she chirps loudly as if to say, "Hey, aren't you guys coming? Don't you feel tired too? I don't want to be up here all by myself." If no one follows her, she comes back down the ladder half way, then heads back up. Eventually, they all follow.
Chickee-Chickee
Roan's bird, Chickee-Chickee, has always been the most curious and active, and really believes we are all part of her flock. As a baby, whenever we left the room in our house where they lived for a few weeks, she would cheep loudly and try to squeeze herself out of the cage to follow. She still comes running whenever we go down into the yard to visit. She likes to sit on your arm as if it is a perch. She likes a nice back rub and will fall asleep while you pet her.
I will be posting more later about the coop and how we built it. This is all for now!
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