Chicken Portraits
11 August 2017
So y'all remember we have chickens in the backyard, right? This was the day the chicken coop arrived, and Rob put it together with some help from the kids.
So to recap, here's the coop. There are ten birdy-birds in there. The one, Archimedes, whom Jack won in the Parma chicken run a couple months back:
That's her in the back, semi-center, looking down upon her court. And the crap trap. The shit sheet. Whatever you want to call the poop-catcher tray that um, I didn't think about when I took this picture. Well, so what? Everybody poops!
Here's a better view of Archimedes, top left, with less doody in the foreground. But seriously, folks, ten birds in one smaller-than-I-thought coop = loads of doodoo! That's one daily chore that is not a kid favorite, but it gets taken care of!
So, I had this brilliant idea that we should take portraits of each chicken, since there are two for each of the five of us, and I can never remember who's who in there. This one is Sophia's Pharaoh. You can see she has fluffy legs, like many of them do. They came from some kind of show-chicken lady, and these happened to have been cross-bred between a Silky and I don't know what, to get these chicks she didn't deem necessary to keep. Or worthy. Whatever, I just hope they lay us some nice eggs!
Here is Rob's Nugget, who we are pretty sure isn't going to be laying us any eggs anytime soon. Or... ever. Why? See that comb atop the head and waddle-thingy underneath? Pretty sure she is a he. So we'll have to find a new home for Nugget once we're absolutely positive, or send him/her out to be processed for eating. Only, I don't want to eat him/her. So I'm not sure how that is going to go down. I just know the Boise city ordinance says we can't keep roosters in city limits, and I'd rather comply with that than risk a fine!
This is one of "my" chickens, little Minerva. She's a little ball of fluff and is one of two chickens that isn't growing as fast as the others. Maybe they're just destined to be small, or maybe they're not as aggressive at the feeder? I don't know.
And here is Athena, "my" other chicken. She's also a ball of fluff (as many of them are), but she's one of the largest hens. I see her at the feeder often, so maybe her name should be Miss Piggy instead!
Daisy is Jack's other chicken (Archimedes is his, too), and she's growing quite well. Less fluff on this one, but I like her mottled grey coloring.
Igneel, one of Chloë's hens, is named after one of her favorite YouTube show's characters, but I forget which one. I'd ask her, but she's not up at the moment. Fairy Tail, maybe? Whatever, I can't remember. It's a weird little name, that's for sure, but then she was named by a weird little teenager! ;)
A funny thing happened after I photographed Igneel, and she was being put away and the next chicky being fetched. Daisy got out - this happens occasionally - and led Rob and the girls on a wild goose chicken chase in and out of the trees, back and forth, all over our backyard. I was ordered to be hands-off with the chickens after a campylobacter diagnosis, so I couldn't do anything but watch. And, well, take pictures. Sophia dove for Daisy several times, but man, these chickens are fast! Hopefully we can clip some wings this weekend, so they're easier to catch and also so they can be freer to roam around back there.
And then, in the midst of chasing Daisy around the yard, Rob discovered and announced that the tree with thought was persimmons is, rather, an apple tree. The girls stopped helping their dad and started doing the Dance of Joy, which I find hysterical. Remember the 80s show Perfect Strangers with Balky and Cousin Larry Appleton? I still do the Dance of Joy, when it's warranted, that Balky and Larry used to do on the show, and the girls got that from me! Ha. I guess they were pretty excited about apples. And yes, we did manage to get Daisy home shortly after these photos were taken.
Tater Tot is Sophia's other hen, or maybe this one will turn out to be a rooster, too, seeing that comb and waddle? Too soon for us to tell, but maybe some of you are chicken-sexing experts and can let us know what we've got going on here.
This crazy-looking bird is Rob's other chicken, Attila the Hen. She always looks a mess, since Day One. I think she's kinda pretty. No one else seems to hold that view!
And, finally, here is Chloë's second hen, Atlas, whose name comes from the same (Fairy Tail, I think) YouTube show as Igneel's. Atlas, like most of the chickens, calms right down when on her back and definitely prefers this position, so that's the only way I could get a decent shot of her.
Now. I hope you've got all these chickens and their names straight, because I still don't know who is whom - and they live in my backyard! ;)
Soon, hopefully, Rob will build a pen for them to run around in. Between that and lop-sidedly clipping their wings, I'm hoping we can keep them from running away and not being able to be caught, while giving them quite a lot more breathing room.
Happy weekend, y'all!
Fin.