The Chicken Gang

Sometimes I love nothing more than sitting outside on the beautiful bench my fiance made and watching our flock of chickens. I sat with a notepad and pen to make a handy little to-do list for tomorrow (making and canning BBQ sauce, freezing herbs and lemongrass, potting some herbs to bring indoors for the colder weather, making kimchi with the cabbage and radishes from the CSA...). Our handsome little phoenix roo hopped up on the bench beside me. And I knew I had to get a camera.

Of course, when I came back out, he wasn't the only one interested in what was going on. 

Belina is a Rhode Island Red mix, and a gift from friends.

Wrex is our Easter Egger hen and part of our original shipment of chicks.

Minerva is a White Leghorn and Rhode Island Red mix - from Schreiber's.

Bubo is a Golden Sebright bantam. Behind her is Bandit. Both are from the original shipment.

Brave Little Toaster (BLT) is a Phoenix hen. From my aunt's farm.

Bubo and BLT.

BLT is curious.

Malai basks in attention. Not a chicken.

Bandit is an Easter Egger hen.

Camilla and Bandit.

Camilla is a Salmon Faverolle from the original shipment.

Bandit.

Camilla!

Bubo dashes by.

Bubo and Camilla are the same age. Bubo is a type of bantam, or "dwarf chicken."

Hangin' out!

Eventually Lover joined us, and he and Malai did some communing.

 Overall, the backyard flock is a hit with the whole family. Quadrapus didn't eat them when they were chicks, Malai is followed by the flock when we go out, and Lover sits out and "zens" with the chickens after he gets home from work.

Me, I just love 'em. How can you not?

Chicks!

Now two weeks old, Dave and I received our chicks when they were just two days old. We ordered them from MyPetChicken.com. Unfortunately, one of the chicks died in transit - the heat pack that My Pet Chicken uses to keep the little travelers warm somehow fell onto one of the bantams and crushed her.

Within 48 hours, another chick died. She had been lethargic, and not eating or drinking very much. I tried to give her extra fluids and vitmain-filled wet food with a syringe, but to no avail. MyPetChicken's customer service were very nice people to speak with, and they refunded me for both chicks.

Feeding Sick Chicky

 The other bantam, who we've named Bubo (for the little mechanical owl in the original Clash of the Titans!), started acting slow and lethargic, and Lover said "Let's take her to the vet." At this point, I was already saddened by our other losses, and I didn't want a third death in a week. So, we put Bubo in a shoebox with a hot water bottle, picked out Camilla (named for Gonzo's favorite chicken) to be Bubo's companion, and off to the vet we all went.

Bubo loves dozing on the hot water bottle

 Turns out Bubo was having trouble passing excrement and had gotten very dehydrated. The vet recommended alternating water and pedialyte every hour that we were home.

Bubo bounced back, and is gaining weight every day (we have a little kitchen scale). At the vet, she weighed 20 grams (that's about four grapes). Six days later, she now weighs 42 grams!

T-Rex is a distant relative

 Bubo is so tiny because she is a bantam chicken. Bantams are dwarf varieties of chickens. Just as there are araucana, cochin, and barred rock chickens of the standard size, so there are bantam (or dwarf) sizes of each of these breeds. Bubo is a Golden Sebright, which means she'll have lovely golden brown feathers laced with black.

The three other chicks we have are all standard sizes. Urdnot Wrex (named for one of our favorite Mass Effect characters) and El Bandido Pollo (or simply Bandit) are Easter Eggers, which lay eggs in shades of pale blues and greens. I think Wrex will grow to have bluish gray feathers mixed with orange-red feathers. Bandit looks like she'll be a mix of brown and red. We shall see.

Wrex needed a little encouragement

Urdnot Wrex is the biggest chick

Bandit is the best flyer and most curious

Camilla is a Salmon Faverolle, which are beautiful pale salmon and white colored chickens with beards (called muffs for chickens) and feathers along their legs and feet.

Malai is very curious

 Malai and Quadrapus have been very curious. I wouldn't trust either alone with the chicks, but in my lap everyone just looks and sniffs.

Quadrapus took a sniff, and then decided to lay down and chill

Bandit is a little too curious

I think Malai thinks they're plush toys

I can't wait to see what everyone will look like all grown up! Malai has been acting jealous from time to time, but she knows she's still number one pup!

Cape Cod Getaway

I am on my way back from a Cape Cod getaway weekend with Lover. It's off-season, so there's little traffic, fewer people, and only a handful of open shops and restaurants. Love it.

We visited P-town and stopped at my favorite used books store. I picked up a copy of Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" for $8.00. We sat down for truffles and hot chocolate at "The Purple Feather," and perused open shops.

I worked on a new project... I'm pretty excited about something coming up.. A new venture in life. This project is the start of it. You'll be among the first to see the finished product. ;)

We walked along the beach. Malai looks so happy! The first time I took her to see the ocean, it scared her. Now she runs around, sniffing the piles of seaweed and mounds of dry sea oats. She's had so much more energy and vigor since she's lost weight!

Here's wishing you all a happy spring!