We have welcomed four chickens into our home.
We got them when they were just little peeps, about 5 weeks ago.
The kids call them Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin.
Now they have grown bigger, but not necessarily wiser. They are funny and skiddish animals, travelling in a pack. Once I poured out some ends of green beans to see if they would eat them. At first they were afraid, eyeing them but not moving. Then one pecked one of the ends and ran with it in his beak. The others followed him, trying to steal his treasure (not realizing that 75 more bean ends laid right under their feet). Made me laugh and reminded me of (dare I say it?)...teenagers!
Hoping for some hens in our foursome, we invited our neighbor over to see if he could tell if they were female or male. Well, he knew a trick. He held them and pulled their neck out and then by the way it bobbed or shook he could tell what it was. I kid you not! He concluded that we have 3 roosters and 1 hen. Good thing that the hen was named Sam...Samantha now!
Feeding time brings out some anxiety in them. They see one of us coming with the plastic bag of grain and they get giddy. One flies up and pecks the bag causing a stream of grain to pour out. The others follow and make little noises. When the grain is poured into the dish they all start to pick-a-little, talk-a-little, pick-a-little, talk-a-little, cheep cheep cheep, talk-a-lot pick a little more!
I told Patrick today that I'm really enjoying having farm pets on our little patio. They make me laugh!
