Thursday, May 19, 2011

Pearl and Ninja

the chickens have arrived! los pollos estan aqui! les poulets sont arrivees!
 
they are Silkie chickens, which means that they are a) smaller than normal chickens b) their feathers are without barbs, which means i) they can't fly and ii) they look AWESOME!

pearl and ninja (figured out which is which?) came to us from our friend michelle, who needed to rehome her chickies before a big move.  they have been incredibly well-cared for, and i really hope they will be as happy with us as i know they've been with michelle!  she is a wonderful chicken-having mentor, and a fount of information.

pearl and ninja were fresh from baths when they came over, and as soon as we put them down in the run, they instantly began scratching and kicking dirt all over each other!  which is perfect chicken behavior, of course, and we were glad to see they were quickly confortable enough to become dirty birds.


here are the first moments that pearl and ninja spent in the run.  you can also hear me earnestly absorbing information about their laying habits.  every other day!

we've had them since sunday, and we've discovered several things about them so far:
1) they love apples!
2) they love grubs!
3) their poops are bigger than one might expect...
4) ninja is a risk-taker
5) pearl is a pillow queen
6) they like yogurt, although peach yogurt is not their favorite.

they seem to like the coop...we are using hay as bedding and have inserted a tree branch as a roosting option.  in these pictures we hadn't gotten the hay yet...

We are thinking of redesigning the floor/ramp, because it seems that the ladies are having a hard time navigating the steepish grade into and out of the coop.  they are handily hopping down at this point, but need lots of assistance going up!  but, it hasn't even been a week, and i gather chickens are fairly coachable.
anyway, it's really validating to watch projects happen and continue progressing, and i am thrilled to have our first two chickens.  they are pretty adorable, and we're getting good at chicken catching!


stay tuned for the beginnings of the TUF garden....and, dare i say it...CHICKS?

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