Chickens!
We have two chickens living with us right now. Darla is a small, mostly black with a few white feathers cornish hen. Arise is a tiny little cornish rooster who is mostly orange with a little gray and white. They're amazing! It's so sad to think that the people we got them from (legally!) were going to eat them. They're so beautiful and curious and Arise is super protective of Darla. Yesterday, she fell behind a pile of sticks and was clucking and peeping behind the pile, Arise freaked out because he couldn't see her and starting screaming until one of us picked up Darla and showed him that she was safe. It was adorable. He hops after her all the time, follows her around and she seems completely oblivious.
Alison and I went to Pride today and she kicked something she said looked like chicken and it was so sad... to think about the cute little sociable creature that was probably boiled alive so someone could have cheap food.
They love being around people. I opened the cage when I got home today and Darla hopped on my skirt and Arise jumped/flew over. She went on my shoulder while he scratched at my skirt and tried to find bugs. Unfortunately, they have to stay in the library because Carrot and Tidbit (2 of our cats) want to eat them. I've always heard that chickens really like TV, the sounds and flashes of light- I kinda want to lock the cats up in the library and take the birds out for a little while.
We are looking for a sanctuary for them, tho. They are sociable creatures, they should be around more chickens. It's just weird, because they're so small, and they need to stay together... Right now they're in a ferret cage that we lined in newspaper, grass, and lots of twigs. We tried putting them on the metal grating, and they hated it, they were terrified of it. You know, animals rights documentaries always say that chickens do not like the cages they like in, but I never really understood until I saw how much they tried to avoid the metal grating, but flew upwards to roast as soon as we put twigs and branches for them to climb and sit on.
But yes. Chickens are shiny! And ridiculously cute!
Alison and I went to Pride today and she kicked something she said looked like chicken and it was so sad... to think about the cute little sociable creature that was probably boiled alive so someone could have cheap food.
They love being around people. I opened the cage when I got home today and Darla hopped on my skirt and Arise jumped/flew over. She went on my shoulder while he scratched at my skirt and tried to find bugs. Unfortunately, they have to stay in the library because Carrot and Tidbit (2 of our cats) want to eat them. I've always heard that chickens really like TV, the sounds and flashes of light- I kinda want to lock the cats up in the library and take the birds out for a little while.
We are looking for a sanctuary for them, tho. They are sociable creatures, they should be around more chickens. It's just weird, because they're so small, and they need to stay together... Right now they're in a ferret cage that we lined in newspaper, grass, and lots of twigs. We tried putting them on the metal grating, and they hated it, they were terrified of it. You know, animals rights documentaries always say that chickens do not like the cages they like in, but I never really understood until I saw how much they tried to avoid the metal grating, but flew upwards to roast as soon as we put twigs and branches for them to climb and sit on.
But yes. Chickens are shiny! And ridiculously cute!