Striking The Pose!

They are growing up so fast. It seems like only yesterday they were coo'ing and giggling and now they want the keys to the car and new feathers. No one tells you how tough the teenage years are. They are constantly trying to get out of of the coop, always trying to get away and "Fly The Coop" That cute little saying didn't come about because the chickens love to sit in the coop and stay close, although at bed-time they are quick to return, but boy once they are up and fed... they want OUT! In the foreground is HOOT. Really this is a beautiful bird, never thought I would every write those words. I like to build stuff, play guitar, break things, go to the mountains - Lake Tahoe to be exact, but never, ever...ever utter "pretty bird". Anyway - Loa is in the background, Sunny to the right and Millie in the foreground. Today is going to be spent mostly out of the coop and roaming the yard. I need to go grab a saw and cut something.

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They May Not Drink Coffee, But They Know Their Chickens!

Utah State University has a great article here on correlating a hen's egg production with her physical appeareance.

http://extension.usu.edu/htm/publications/publication=9870

England And Flight

It is fairly well known the British were not the most innovative, adventerous, poineering air-travellers. Don't get me wrong, they had some minor victories, but for the sake of this blog... they were WAY OFF THE BACK... compared to the United States, France, Germany and even Australia. I think the Hondurans were flying before the English.

This leads me to their chicken breeds - The Orpington

William Cook of Orpington County Kent in England is credited with the development of the 'Orpington' variety of chicken. In 1886 he introduced a fast growing, dual purpose (good for both eggs and meat) chicken that was black in color, had white flesh, and slate (grey) legs. He developed the breed by crossing Langshan, Minorca and Plymouth Rock chickens. Continued development eventually resulted in a Buff color varierty, introduced in 1894. Over time, a number of other color variations have been produced, such as the Spangled, Cuckoo and Blue, but none of these has achieved the popularity of the Buff Orpington. The hens can be good layers, laying some 200 eggs a year, and lay well into the cold weather. 200 eggs!!! I have two of them. This means I am going to 400 eggs a year!?

What is not mentioned here is they are tenative fliers, like to sit, eat, talk about victories in WWII, debate how awful French chickens are. How they smoke, rarely take dirt baths and think all chickens should cluck like them and how Princess Di's untimely death was a national tradegy.

Which makes this news all the more fun - Our Orps (Sunny and Scat)... took flight and made it to the roosting rod last night. It was quite the celebration - all the other chickens golf clapped for them and threw back some tea in honor of it.

Week Two: June 12, 2009

Hoot on the rod....!

This chicken is a hoot. She is the friendliest bird I have ever seen, my experience being the other five! So, this bird is really something. It is as though the bird wants to come with you every where you go. As I took this picture, I think she wanted to make a call. Cool looking beek and really pretty markings on her head... the rest of her looks like she spent the night in a gutter.

And then there are three on the rod! Hoot encouraged a couple others... Millie (RIR) and Kapalua (Arcauna) to join her. Then Hoot jumped on Kapalua and knocked them both off the rod... A big crash was heard as Kapalua landed on her back on the ramp.
Fun stuff.

Then we have the two foreigners... Scat and Sunny...

These two are unbelievable... always following, always talking. They are still the prettiest, currently and seem to stunted in growth. They still look chick-ish. I am changing their names to Yanna and Ulrika.

More to come...

Chickens and Dinosaurs

(pictured are Hoot (Easter Egger), Millie (RIR) and Scat (Buff Orpington) on the ramp)

Good grief, I am not trying to be cruel, but these things are the strangest two legged winged creatures I have ever seen. I was told they go through a "questionable" appearance stage but this is ridiculous. They have bed head, they are disproportionate, their feet are the size of a pterodactyl and their heads look like a mish-mash of hair, feathers and a raisin. Now to pick on one breed.. the Arcauna is really the oddest. The Buff and the Rhode Island's are actually aging gracefully.
Now on to more kind observations - they not only have found the ramp and the second floor.. they are now flying up and sitting on the wood clothes rod. Well not all of them... the Arcauna's and the RIR are there but Buff's are still like foreigners.

"Oh luuk Sven....the others are sitting up dere, shall vee join demm?" "No, jus snap unz picture and send zem baak to Sveeden" - ( Oh my lord I cannot believe I just tried to mimic a Swede forgive me if you are Swedish). Since the Buff's originate in England read it with an English accent. "A look Clare... they've popped up to the rod... shall we join them?" "Oh Imogen you're so impetuous, let's just relax and sip some water..." (ahh that's better)

Orpingtons

What a great breed of chicken....

(splash, blue and buff)

Chicken Breeds

Here is a great link to chicken breeds. Makes me second-guess my choices, but this is a learning process.

http://www.ithaca.edu/staff/jhenderson/chooks/dual.html

Week One: June 6, 2009

WOW, Saturday morning and they look like they've grown significantly. From left to right: Sunny (Buff), Loa (Arcauna), Hoot (Arcauna), Kapalua (Arcauna), Scat (Buff) and Millie (RIR - she is already an old hen).

My daughter did a fresh water change and food refresh as we are taking off for the rest of the day.