True stories of a small flock of remarkable individuals -- and other critters.



Sunday, May 2, 2010

THE GREAT ESCAPE

...continued from the previous post: PIGEON: a complex and mysterious chicken

 
A gift from Pigeon -- the first egg she's laid in her new home.

So she finally did begin laying eggs---after two months of recuperation from her previous life at the bottom of the pecking order in a dusty old attic.

Pigeon now proudly holds position at the top of the pecking order, and continues to consider herself Lucy's very very very best friend.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .
  
This morning.... 

when I woke up and looked out the window at the chicken coop, it was empty.

Needless to say, I was alarmed.

I came downstairs to find three fluffy chicken-butts clustered at the base of the bird feeder near the kitchen window.
 

I went right outside and fussed at the escapees, but
they showed no remorse.

I knew who the culprits were.

Lil'White has discovered that if she hurls her body repeatedly against the coop door, she can jar it open,

and Pigeon has learned to climb fences...

Together they are escape-masters extraordinaire.


Of course, my forgetting to latch the door might have been a contributing factor.

 Crabapple blossoms sprinkled down upon the garden as the girls flocked lovingly at my feet.
... or,  well... as the girls greedily demanded the chicken-scratch in my hand...


...a lovely morning no matter how you look at it.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

And now, some new faces:
the Rhode Island Red that will join my flock in a few weeks...
--she's entering her gangly teenage stage, but she's still beautiful in a pterodactyl sort of way...
And one of these little characters will be moving in, too. 
They're Ameraucanas.

Because change is a good thing,
and there's always time for more fun!

They're going to need good names --- Any ideas?


.  .  .  .  next blog entry:  SILENT MORNING

7 comments:

  1. I am having the hardest time with naming my chickens. I actively avoided naming them when they were little chicks because I didn't know which one were gonna be boys and therefore leaving my life. I didn't want to get "too attached".

    And now that they are fully feathered and out in the coop the names just aren't coming to me. So far, of the 8 hens I have only 2 have names. So I am afraid that I am not going to be much help.

    When you get it figure out, let me know the secret.

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  2. how about Teri for the RIR. Maybe Usa for another.

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  3. Awesome post! Eric and I are loving the chicken butt pic :o) I vote for Hilda and Phoebe.

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  4. Love the post and I vote for Fern and Joanie. I just like the name Fern and Joanie was the runner up name for my RIR. We are Mad Men fans and love Joanie, the buxom, sassy redhead.

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  5. How about Big Red for the RIR? It goes with lil' white and we all know what strong individuals RIR's can be. And how about Ester for the EE? Ester the Easter Egger? I love how they follow you around! And I bet they had the best time during the great escape!

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  6. For Robbingpeter
    Flower names (Rose, Daisy, Violet, Iris, Lily, Peony, Clethra) and old fashioned names (Sadie, Frances, Beatrice, Gertrude, Hazel, Annabelle, Nettie) are nice for hens, and if they turn out to be roosters, shorten it to an initial or 2

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  7. aweosme
    how about TALIA? Thats a good name for a chiken!

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