(no subject)
So, I've been living at Jesse's parents house for the past several days and house sitting for them while more importantly taking care of their pet chickens. It's been really fun and kind of reminds me of just the kind of life I'd like to have eventually. Not necessarily a farm lifestyle, but something a little more slow paced that allows me the time to remember the gentler things that I love so much.
The chickens are so cool, though. They seem to be getting somewhat used to me coming out there now. Lance, the rooster, no longer announces my coming to the hens, at least, and they're making smaller circles to get around me when I stand out there with them so that they can wander the yard a while without fear of the chicks jumping out through the holes in the fence.
All of the rainy weather that we've been having has let me notice two really amazing things. One, the rain brings out the earthworms, so more than once when I let the chicks roam the yard in the morning I've seen them tugging on a worm and trying to eat it while it tries to wiggle away. The mother hen just lets them play at it, but she watches. You can tell she's letting them learn. It's really beautiful and adorable at the same time. The other thing that amazes me is the fact that regardless of when I go outside, hen-bedtime always seems to be in between the two points. I'll go out once and they're still too up and active for the chicks to go into the nest boxes, and the second time (last night it was just 30 minutes later) they're all snuggled in and too sound asleep to want to be used as bait to get the chicks into a catchable position. Luckily, though, I've found the chicks to be very easy to catch. :) It's really fun so far taking care of them.
Another amazing thing is how incredibly different the smell of a henhouse is after it has been raining for two days. Wow. Yuck.
The chicks seem to be getting their own little personalities, which is really cute. I've taken to calling them by individual names in my head (none of which sound like grown up chicken names, but it's fun in the meantime). The black one (Who I call Pip in my head) is really starting to lose a lot of fluff and get some wing feathers, and it looks like the same is starting to happen on his head. He's very adventurous and will wander the furthest away from the mother while they're in the yard. The yellow one, Squeak, is a little behind as far as feathers, and seems a lot more timid than the black one. He gets confused by the mesh a lot. More than once he's tried to get to his mother on the other side of it and jumped up into the mesh, apparently thinking he can go through it. He's certainly the most amusing to watch. The little brown one is certainly the most timid. He never leaves his mother's side, even when they're eating. He also makes the biggest fuss in the evenings when she's already gone to the nest box, and he's left behind. I've taken to calling him Teddy in my head both because of his resemblance to a chipmunk (Theodore was the smallest and most timid in the old Chipmunks cartoon) and because of his constant desire to snuggle with his mommy, like a teddy bear.
Otherwise, things in my life are fine. I've had lots and lots of world-stopping headaches lately, but I have an appointment on Wednesday to get new medication for that, so hopefully all will be well again soon.
Fingers crossed.
The chickens are so cool, though. They seem to be getting somewhat used to me coming out there now. Lance, the rooster, no longer announces my coming to the hens, at least, and they're making smaller circles to get around me when I stand out there with them so that they can wander the yard a while without fear of the chicks jumping out through the holes in the fence.
All of the rainy weather that we've been having has let me notice two really amazing things. One, the rain brings out the earthworms, so more than once when I let the chicks roam the yard in the morning I've seen them tugging on a worm and trying to eat it while it tries to wiggle away. The mother hen just lets them play at it, but she watches. You can tell she's letting them learn. It's really beautiful and adorable at the same time. The other thing that amazes me is the fact that regardless of when I go outside, hen-bedtime always seems to be in between the two points. I'll go out once and they're still too up and active for the chicks to go into the nest boxes, and the second time (last night it was just 30 minutes later) they're all snuggled in and too sound asleep to want to be used as bait to get the chicks into a catchable position. Luckily, though, I've found the chicks to be very easy to catch. :) It's really fun so far taking care of them.
Another amazing thing is how incredibly different the smell of a henhouse is after it has been raining for two days. Wow. Yuck.
The chicks seem to be getting their own little personalities, which is really cute. I've taken to calling them by individual names in my head (none of which sound like grown up chicken names, but it's fun in the meantime). The black one (Who I call Pip in my head) is really starting to lose a lot of fluff and get some wing feathers, and it looks like the same is starting to happen on his head. He's very adventurous and will wander the furthest away from the mother while they're in the yard. The yellow one, Squeak, is a little behind as far as feathers, and seems a lot more timid than the black one. He gets confused by the mesh a lot. More than once he's tried to get to his mother on the other side of it and jumped up into the mesh, apparently thinking he can go through it. He's certainly the most amusing to watch. The little brown one is certainly the most timid. He never leaves his mother's side, even when they're eating. He also makes the biggest fuss in the evenings when she's already gone to the nest box, and he's left behind. I've taken to calling him Teddy in my head both because of his resemblance to a chipmunk (Theodore was the smallest and most timid in the old Chipmunks cartoon) and because of his constant desire to snuggle with his mommy, like a teddy bear.
Otherwise, things in my life are fine. I've had lots and lots of world-stopping headaches lately, but I have an appointment on Wednesday to get new medication for that, so hopefully all will be well again soon.
Fingers crossed.