sally vicious

I should have named her sid vicious. Sally, the runt of the flock has turned into "The Evil One" as we like to refer to her. In the last week or two, instead of running away when you try to pet her, she has taken to turning around to confront you with her sharp little beak. Today she took a peck out of my arm and when I had to go inside their run to do stuff, she viciously attacked my pants. She is clearly the top chicken since I see her chasing the other two around.

I remember another lady who had posted to the mailing list saying her rhode island red chicken was getting aggressive as well so I emailed her to ask what she ended up doing. Her response was: "I think we were the ones that got "trained." We've learned how to move around her, pick her up from behind, etc. I'll often bring a treat in and throw it away from me."

Hmm. That doesn't bode well. C suggests that the next she pecks at us that we peck back to show her who's boss.

San mateo county fair

So I dragged C to the San Mateo county fair expressly for the purpose of seeing the livestock exhibits. (And he admitted he enjoyed far more than he thought). In addition to the large cows, pigs, and incredibly freaking looking turkeys, we of course found chickens!

This one C referred to as the "Russian"


Also there was a stark contrast between the fat, immovable meat chickens versus the normal egg laying varieties. Here are the meat chickens that would be going up for auction.

Sunbathing

This is a really weird pose that Sunny likes to be in when sunbathing on the deck. Not sure why her feathers are all ruffled but it makes her look very alien and scary.

chicken on the roof

So for the last two days, we've been having the chickens put themselves to sleep in their coop instead of ushering them in earlier. This seemed to be working okay until today. I saw them all go in and made a note to go out there and close the door later. Then the chicks all came out again and started clucking. Suddenly I heard a big squawk so I looked outside and realized Buffy had jumped on top of the big door. I didn't realize she could jump that high. C went out there to get her down and she then stepped up to the roof of the coop. I was a bit nervous that she would then go up to the roof of the house. To make matters worse, the other chicks started squawking - maybe they were telling Buffy to come down? Anyhow, C was eventually able to get her down from the roof. Still not sure what caused her to jump up there.

behind closed doors

The chicks in the last two days have been taking to hiding in their coop behind the door all day. I only saw them come out once yesterday for some food. At first i thought maybe one was laying an egg and they were all supporting her. But I looked inside last night and nope, no egg (well unless they ate it). So maybe they just need some alone time or are plotting their escape. I'm curious to know. I need an interior webcam clearly. For now, all I have is this exterior view which doesn't change all day. I need x-ray vision.

chickens on reality tv

So on the reality show Keeping up with the Kardashians, the mom decided to get some chickens. It's kind of funny how grossed out the daughers are by the whole thing.

eggs for sale

Looks like a lot of people in the San Juan Islands especially Lopez island have chickens. We passed many lanes with eggs for sale signs. Here is one really cute one.

how to beat the heat

The answer is use lots of ice. The chicks are taking advantage of the frozen milk bottle I put in there though today isn't as hot as Tuesday. They have a little bird bath as well though they don't seem to want to go in.

chicken tennis

A somewhat old video but I appreciate it more now.

corn on the cob

I harvested the two ears of corn last week and they were delicious - I really should have taken a picture. Being generous, I shared half the bounty with the chicks who at first ignored it but I yanked off a kernel to show them, they came and attacked the cob with vigor. We had to hold the cob for them since otherwise it would roll around and they would "accidentally" peck our fingers. Hey, we're not food.

Unfortunately, they have now discovered the corn stalks and for some reason like to eat the leaves so they are yanking on the ends. Hopefully the other corn won't go the way of the strawberries which had to be replanted in hopes of regrowth.