You are currently browsing the monthly archive for June 2008.
Sweetie insisted on being in this photo- and she wanted it to be a close-up!
One of the things we’ve been most amazed by, in our duration as crazy-chicken-pet-people, is the amount of personality the chickies have. I don’t know what we were expecting- just some fluffy feathered cuteness, and quiet clucking? Instead, each chicken is her very own individual- quirky and endearing in a unique way. We’ve decided to highlight each of the girls in separate posts- to give them each a moment in the spotlight, so that you, dear reader, can get to know each chicken, up close and personal!
Sweetie is one of our two reds, and probably the smallest and sleekest chicken of the bunch. Physically, you can distinguish her from the other red, Tweety, by her size (smaller), and by the coloring of her beak (darker).
(See photo below- Sweetie is on the left).
Personality-wise, Sweetie is really a sweetie. Since she was little, she’s always liked to take naps- and she still does. Every afternoon, in the heat of the afternoon, when the chicks slow down, and find a nice cool spot in the shade (or rather, in front of the evaporative cooler (that’s another story for another post)), she’s the first one to start nodding off. She also loves picking at the seams of your clothing- when you’re sitting down, and you feel someone poking at the stitching on your back pocket, or the cuff of your pants, chances are its Sweetie. The good thing is that she doesn’t really do any damage, and she does seem to stop when instructed! As far as her place in the pecking order (which is still being determined), at first she seemed as though she was at the bottom but she seems to be moving her way up. She’s become more aggressive about getting treats (grapes and cherries), and has discovered tenacity as a means of keeping her place on the perch. (Basically, she chooses her place on the perch early on in the evening, and then holds on for dear life, while other chicks try to push her off, or shove past her towards the primo spots. She’s a little slow, always a little behind the other chicks- the other five will run off, and she’ll still be standing in the same place. Half a minute later, she’ll realize everyone’s gone, and she’ll go running after the others to catch up. But better slow and sweet, that quick and ornery, right?
So, besides the usual list of what’s ready to eat, and what’s growing, we’ve decided to add another list: what the chickens are eating in the garden- since it’s become their favorite place to free-range (sigh…)
ready to eat right now:
beets, bull’s blood
beets, dutch baby balls
brussel sprouts
cabbage, savoy
carrots, scarlet nantes
leeks
lettuce, frisee
scallions
strawberries
swiss chard, rainbow
tomatoes, stupice (heirloom)
tomatoes, early girl
tomatoes, yellow pear (heirloom)
tomatoes, yellow boy,
tomatoes, sungold (cherry)
herbs: basil (italian sweet, spicy globe), burnet, chives, garlic chives, cilantro, dill, english thyme, espazote, garlic chives, lemon thyme, marjoram, mint (spearamint), oregano (greek), parsley (italian flat-leaf), rosemary (barbeque), sage, tarragon (french), lemongrass
growing, but not ready to be eaten yet:
asparagus
cucumbers, armenian
cucumbers, english
cucumbers, pickling
eggplant, japanese (ichiban)
figs, genoa
figs, kudota
grapes, red flame
grapes, thompson seedless
horseradish
melon, charentais
melon, canteloupe
melon, minnesota midget
peppers, hungarian
peppers, spicy thai
pumpkin, sugar
rhubarb
squash, butternut (winter)
squash, zucchini (summer)
tomatillo, verde
tomatoes, black cherokee
tomatoes, black krim
tomatoes, crimson carmello
tomatoes, costuolo
what the chickens are eating in the garden:
note the “nibbled” edges of all of the cabbage…
caught in the act!
asparagus seeds
burnet (the cucumber flavored herb that they love)
broccoli (last one of the season, plus the leaves)
brussel sprouts (mostly the leaves off the plant- they haven’t yet figured out how to get to the sprouts, or that perhaps those are the tastiest bits…)
cabbage, savoy
cauliflower (last one of the season, plus the leaves + the aphids that are also enjoying the fine fruits of our harvest…)
cucumbers, any blossoms they can find…
figs, mostly the leaves
grapes, every single one they can reach before we “shoo” them away…
peppers, blossoms, and one developing jalapeno- afterwards a lot of hasty beak wiping…
swiss chard, rainbow (one of their favorites)
tomatillos, all the blossoms…
tomatoes, early girl
tomatoes, stupice
tomatoes, yellow boy
These days the chickies prefer a different sort of spa- a dirt bath right next to the patio- here’s an action-packed video of Brownie, Blondie, Sweetie and Spotty-Dotty cleaning themselves…
