War Wounds

We almost had our own Mike the Chicken today. The Rooster was inside the house working while The Ladies were outside pecking around for their typical afternoon promenade. Suddenly, Big Sister started whining at the back door despite having just gone out. The Rooster got up to investigate and saw only a large hawk perched about fifteen feet up a tree in the backyard, no chickens anywhere.

The hawk flew off but The Ladies remained hidden until The Rooster could coax them out with some scratch; you wouldn't believe how well camouflaged The Ladies are when buried in the hedge. We're not sure what happened, but Ringo seems to have engaged the avian enemy. Whether the interaction was offensive or defensive we'll never know, but Ringo will carry a couple war wounds.

There seem to be no lasting injuries, just a bit of bloody/missing comb and some ruffled feathers.  When returned to the coop, Ringo hid under the nesting box to recover more fully from the shock. Updates will be posted as information develops.

Mike the Chicken

If you know anything at all about chickens, I'm sure you've heard the Story of Mike. If not, read and be amazed. 

(There's also some video coverage of this story on the PBS documentary The Natural History of the Chicken, available at Amazon.)

Apparently, you can even buy Mike the Chicken clothing!

Chicks in a Video

Here's a link to some very cute chicks in a video. 

Of course, you have to watch the whole video to realize I'm not being sexist when I say there are cute chicks in this video.

Flat Chicken

A friend passed this picture along. Apparently, even Flat Stanley is interested in getting a close-up look at a chicken. How anyone got this rooster to cooperate is beyond me.

A New Direction

Just as George stands looking longingly at whatever lies behind that door she can never enter, Nashvillechicks will be taking a new direction. There's not much to report about The Ladies' lives at the moment; they pretty much just eat, peck around the yard, and lay eggs. They're very entertaining in chicken, but not so much online.

Thus, until some important event occurs, we've decided to use this space to talk about other things in the realm of gallinity.  For example, did anyone see tonight's episode of The Amazing Race? Contestants had to enter a Kazahk chicken coop with 30,000 hens and find one of seven golden eggs. If we were to be competing in that Road Block, Mother Hen and The Rooster both think we'd feel much more at home than the contestants seemed to be. If anyone is planning on sending in an audition video, The Ladies would love to make cameo appearances.

As we encounter other galline artifacts in our local lives, we'll be sure to post. It has been recommended to us by some of The Ladies' visitors that Nashvillechicks might be a good spot from which to help others explore the world of Hot Chicken. More on that to come...

First Cousin

The Ladies got a special visit this weekend. Their first cousin came to visit and spent a nice afternoon pointing at most anything that happened. At the moment, The Ladies' cousin knows only two types of animals: dog and not-dog. We hope this weekend visit will add another layer to her knowledge of animalia.

This second picture shows a good close up of all the cousins.

More Eggs... More Visitors!

We had a few more visitors stop by to check up on The Ladies. This first picture shows mom and two kids checking out both the eggs and The Ladies with Mother Hen. The Ladies don't like being held any more than they ever have, but you can corner one long enough to let visitors feel the softness of feathers or see the bigness of feet. Paul was kind enough to let our visitors have an up-close interaction.

This second picture is more common of what happens when trying to chase The Ladies. They tend to hide under some sort of cover, only coming out when offered a bit of scratch. That's also the way we coax them back into the coop.

Same old...

It's been over a month since we last posted any new information about The Ladies; The Ladies have been living large and holding up their end of this whole bargain.  We're now getting three or four eggs a day!  

John and Paul lay light brown eggs that are pretty much indistinguishable.  George and Ringo lay a light blue and a light green egg, but we're not sure which one lays which. If we catch one of them in the act, we'll be sure to let you know.

The pictures and videos we could be getting now are pretty much the same ones we've already posted.  The Ladies spend most of the day hanging out in the coop and then come out to peck around the yard during the last three or four hours of daylight.  Instead of trying to chase them home, we mostly just let wander back inside when it gets dark.  They are a lot of fun to watch.

First Scramble!

Last night we finally were able to partake in all that The Ladies have given us. We invited a couple friends over to the house and scrambled a baker's dozen of eggs (but with fourteen yolks, go figure).  This first picture shows The Rooster at the stove grating some cheddar cheese into the eggs. Just a little cheese and a little black pepper and we were ready to eat. Of course, we had to have bacon and biscuits.

This second picture shows what came out of the first egg (we think from Ringo). Imagine our surprise when we found two yolks! Every other egg after that was a bit anti-climactic. The yolks are a deep yellow and we've found a higher yolk to white ratio than what we've had before.

Finally, here's the table set with the eggs served on the plates. The best part of the whole experience is that in a week we can do it all again.

One Week=One Dozen

From this first picture, you can see the product of one week. We have a baker's dozen with the one still sitting in the nest, but the picture of a full carton is just so lovely. We've held off on eating until we had a full dozen, but I think there may be some omelets on the menu tonight! We'll post an update with pictures and reviews soon.

This second picture is The Rooster's attempt to catch one of the Ladies in the actual act of laying an egg. Here's Ringo sitting on the nest she's made out of the hay in the nesting box and looking like she really wants to be left alone. I guess you can't really blame her.

The movie below was taken at the same time as the picture and easily demonstrates that The Rooster was not the only one wanting to know how things were going. Mother Hen has been wanting to get a camera that captures sound along with video, but using the one we have now means The Rooster gets to add his own soundtrack. Enjoy!

Ovum Becomes Ove!

Apparently, one of the Australorps decided to get into the egg-laying business, meaning we now have two of the Ladies earning their keep. From the picture you can see the difference in color, the brown egg coming from an Australorp (e.g. John or Paul). We don't yet know if the difference in size is a breed characteristic or just to be expected with the first couple eggs; we're thinking the latter.

Labor Day!

One down... eleven to go.

In the United States, Labor Day represents a long weekend at the end of the summer and the last chance to wear seersucker for the season. However, Labor Day has taken on a much more ovular meaning. That's right... 

We have an egg!

Mother Hen and the Rooster travelled to Louisville to watch a friend swim/bike/run the Ironman (he finished!) and when we returned, there was a nice gift waiting in the nesting box. Here's a picture of Mother Hen pointing out the new find.

With one of the Ladies earning her keep, there's no telling when the other three will join in the fun. The nesting box has fresh hay and the Ladies are now eating Layer Food. Here's one more picture of Ringo, George, and Paul relaxing in the sun.

Out of the Coop

The Ladies continue to grow, both into their bodies and into their surroundings. The Mother Hen has begun letting them out in the late afternoon to peck around the yard and stretch their legs. This first picture shows John and Ringo roosting on the rail up to the back porch.

This second picture tried to capture the ladies in motion, but when they're out of the coop they rarely stand still for a picture.

With the video below, we tried to capture the whole process of the Ladies being out of the coop and then led back inside for the night. Highlights of the video include Ringo going after Big Sister and then Mother Hen leading the brood back into the coop with a little treat.

Chickens Everywhere

While in Asia, the Mother Hen and the Rooster realized how much we enjoy finding random pictures that somehow have a galline component to them. As such, we've decided to continue sharing random chicken-ness on the blog. 

For example, here's a picture of the Mother Hen in Dalton, Georgia (the Rooster's hometown). Who knew there was a hospital just for chickens? Not only that, the hospital is a part of a bigger association for the general improvement of all Georgia chickens!

We showed the Ladies this when we returned home, but regretfully had to inform them that we have yet to find a Tennessee Poultry Improvement Association or a Diagnostic Laboratory that would serve Nashville chickens.

It's been awhile...

Ever since we returned from Asia, things have been going a mile a minute, at least for us.  The Ladies' days still consist primarily of pecking around the ground, eating the scraps we deliver, and roosting for the night; they love figs and the peels from sweet potatoes and peaches.  We've moved beyond the chick feed and are now serving the Ladies "Grower and Finisher" feed; we're going for the former rather than the latter.  This will continue until they start producing eggs, at which point they will receive the "Layer" feed that has a higher calcium and protein content.

This picture is of a missionary we support.  We've known Rachel since we were all undergraduates at Vanderbilt.  She's been all over the world in the last few years but finally met John, the other human in the picture, and they are moving to Montana to engage in campus ministry.  Rachel told us she grew up with chickens and has a healthy fear of them, particularly roosters.  This was as close as she would get to the Ladies, even though we assured her they were all females, despite their names.

Back from Asia

The Mother Hen and the Rooster have returned from their trip examining chickens in Asia. While we were gone, the Ladies continued to grow and pretty much look like full sized chickens. Apparently, the next big change will be when their hips start getting wider, which portends the arrival of eggs. At the least, they've completely stopped cheeping and are now sounding entirely galline.

When we went out to take these pictures, Ringo had decided she was better off looking down on everyone, so there she is. This other picture is to try and show how big the Ladies are, but it may be hard to tell with nothing to scale. We'll post a new video soon and get one of us in there.

Last Post from Asia

We leave tonight after two weeks of jet-setting all over southeast Asia. It's been a wonderful trip and we wish we could stay a couple extra weeks to see some more. 

This final picture was taken in a grocery store in Singapore... They have everything here! If only the Rooster had known about this handy invention, he might never have agreed to four live chickens.

Singapore Chickens!

Singapore is a very different place than the other countries in which we've travelled. In short, there are no chickens walking around the streets of Singapore. If they were, they and their owners might be caned for the offense.

The picture above is of our friends who live in Singapore enjoying a local delicacy known as Chicken Rice. You'll never guess what's in it... chicken and rice (and probably a cup or two of MSG). The secret is in cooking the rice in the chicken fat and oil.

This picture is of our friends with Terrence, the owner of a stall at the Hawker Center where we had the Chicken Rice, as well as Chili Stingray, Fried Rice, and some big Tiger beers. The Hawker is where locals in Singapore go to grab a quick meal, particularly late at night. It's basically an outdoor food court without a mall around it. There are close to a hundred individual stalls selling every kind of food you can imagine. Terrence has become our friends' favorite vendor, and he knows their regular order without even having to ask.

This last picture is of meaty goodness that we're bringing home to share. This shop basically grills and sells squares of pressed meat with chilis and sauce soaked in. It's like thick bacon made out of every kind of meat you can imagine, including chicken! We bought a couple vacuum-sealed boxes, but you'll have to come to Nashville soon if you want any; it won't last long.

Cambodian Chickens!

We're back from Cambodia and again have pictures of chickens and other animals.

To start, here's a pictures of how we saw most of the chickens in Cambodia. There were a couple wandering around, but most of them were ready for dinner. This is in the Old Market of Siem Reap, a mixture of cheap textiles (the Rooster got some cool fisherman's pants and the Mother Hen got a lot of scarves), raw meat, and local veggies. Apparently, you'll want to stay away from the Thai produce because it has chemicals on it.

This next picture is obviously not one of chickens, but there are some other animals around Cambodia that deserved to be photographed. We didn't see any of these guys until right around lunchtime, when they all came out to beg food from whomever was nearby. We each had a monkey grab our leg and try to take a bite.

This picture may need a bit of explanation. It's an ancient 1000 year-old carving from Angkor Thom of cock-fighting. If you know what to look for, as did our guide Morin, you can see the Cambodians and the Chinese people in the carving betting on which rooster will win.

To end, here's a picture without chickens but one to prove that we're seeing some cool stuff. This temple used to be called something else, but now it's called the Tomb Raider temple because this was used in the filming of the movie. We can't wait to get home and re-watch it so we can say, "We've been there!"

Thai Chickens!

Here we are across the world and guess what... they have chickens here too. We've experienced several chickens in various red and green curry sauces, but there were a couple of live ones also.  

This first picture is of a bantam who was hanging out in a Buddhist temple on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand. The temple was a large complex with a smiling Buddha, a large building, and a very Hindu-looking statue of a woman with twenty arms each holding something different. There were several chickens milling about, and they all seemed to speak a language similar to the Ladies.

This next picture is of the Mother Hen and the Rooster in Singapore in front of a large rendition of what we took to be a chicken by Colombian sculptor Fernando Botero. It's entitled "Bird," but we know what he was really using as a model.

Finally, here's a picture to prove we really are where we say we are. After all, do we have Buddhas this big back home?

Galline Noises

We got out the real video camera this time so that there'd be sound along with the picture. If you listen closely, you can start to hear the Ladies making some grown up chicken noises. While there is still a lot of peeping and cheeping, they're definitely on their way to full gallinity.

Home Again...

We've returned from our first trip of the summer and the Ladies are all doing well. They're even starting to make some real chicken-sounding noises. We'll try to find a way to put a new movie up with sound so you can hear them.

Here are a couple galline pictures taken during out time away. The first one is of the Mother Hen looking for a rooster in the town square of Blue Ridge, GA. Alas, she did not find one and so has to continue to live with the one to whom she's already married.

These other two pictures were taken in a feed store in Blue Ridge. They had about fifteen different cages with all different breeds of chicks, most only a couple days old.

This last picture is of a live rooster, one of two who lived in the store as pets. While we were there, a lady came in and bought the rooster pictured. Apparently she thought he would help her hens produce more eggs. 

Leaving our Babies

Today, for the first time, we're leaving the Ladies in the care of someone else. 

The Mother Hen, Rooster, and Big Sister are all going south to visit family and for a week at the beach.  While we're gone, the Ladies will be cared for by a neighborhood family, but it still makes us sad to leave them for so long.  

Who knows?  Maybe they'll be making grown-up chicken noises when we return.

Big Feet and Big Snacks

The Ladies seem more and more comfortable with staying out in the coop full time. At least, we haven't yet had anyone crawling into bed with us in the middle of the night.

Something we like to point out to visitors is how big their feet are getting, so we thought we'd post a picture. If we're expecting the Ladies to grow into these feet, they may be over three feet tall when this is all said and done.

The movie below shows the Ladies enjoying some of their favorite snacks, as the Rooster is enjoying his. It's a tough choice between Flavor Ice and cabbage worms, but everyone seemed happy with the way things played out.

Domvs Gallinvs

The Ladies have now spent two nights out in the coop, where they will be spending their lives for the foreseeable future.  Here's a close-up picture to show how big they're getting.  They've become more accustomed to eating cabbage worms from our hands, but they're still pretty skittish throughout the day.  At night, they're very docile, which does not bode well if some predator were to make it inside the coop.

Here's a picture of the nesting box now inside the coop.  The large metal drum hanging in the foreground is the water cooler, around which the Ladies gather to share stories and jokes and catch up on who got voted out on Top Chef.  The metal drum in the background is the feeder, currently attached to the wall.  As the Ladies reach their full height, these will both be moved up to eating/drinking level.

And that's about it for now.  The Ladies seem to enjoy roosting and peeping.  We're starting to take bets on how long before we get some real chicken noises.

Visitors!

The Ladies are still getting bigger, so we're pretty much just adding pictures when we have new visitors.  Tonight was definitely the most visitors we've had at one time: five adults and four children between the ages of one and six (the children, not the adults).

It took a bit of hemming and hawing before the children were brave enough to get right up next to them, but the Mother Hen provided several grubs and worms as bribes for the Ladies; she's such an amazing person with young children, and in general.  

 

As you can see in this second picture, the oldest visitor got pretty comfortable with the Ladies after the first couple grubs were down the hatch.

The only other news is a couple more changes to the coop.  The Ladies now have a shingled and sealed roof area over one third of their coop under which to avoid the summer rains.  Per the approved algorithm, the Ladies should be able to survive 65-degrees by now, but we're still looking at lows in the forties and fifties for at least the next week.  We're thinking by the end of May they'll be out in the coop permanently.

Eating Grubs!

The Ladies continue to make a daily trip out to the coop. We recently purchased their more grown-up feeder and waterer, both of which will hang from the top of the coop eventually.

A lot of the time in the coop is spent, as demonstrated in the picture at left, roosting. The Ladies seem quite content to express their gallinity by getting a few feet off the ground and snuggling.

The Ladies really are attached to one another. The Mother Hen often comments about how when you take two out to the coop, the two left behind start crying until everyone is reunited.

Now that we've got the technology down, we're trying to take more movies. This one shows the Ladies enjoying their favorite snack, cabbage worms picked off of the plants in the garden. This is about the only way the Ladies let us get this close to them.

A New Movie

The Ladies keep receiving visitors.  Today, a couple friends from church and the neighborhood stopped by.  We've begun carrying them to the coop as soon as it warms up in the morning and leaving them out there until it starts to get cool in the evening.  We hope this allows them to develop their highest sense of gallinity (a new word I'm trying to work into my daily conversation as much as possible).

Here's a picture of everyone roosting on the roost.  There was some preening going on as well as eating of the grubs picked off the broccoli plants in the front garden.  The do love those grubs, now that they've figured out what to do with them.

We've put together a new movie of the Ladies in the coop.  We caught them moving around quite a bit, so we hope this gives everyone a sense of their size and agility.

Hanging Outside

The camera is fixed and now we have new pictures to share.

This first picture is the last one taken before the Ladies moved outside to the back porch.  Big Sister has maintained this position for the last several weeks, splitting her attention between the comfort of the rug and a clear view of the nesting box.  If you notice, all the Ladies have their heads sticking out trying to get their momma's attention.

With the weather warming up the last couple of days, we've taken to escorting the Ladies to their coop to peck around for most of the day light hours.  You'll notice their increasing size as well as their roost in the background.

Finally, here's the Ladies' temporary location. It's like their teenagers with parents who are cool enough to let them live in that bedroom over the garage with its own outside access.  We did spend the first night with them on the porch.  You can kind of make out the Mother Hen through the window standing at the kitchen sink.

Moving On Up...

We don't have any pictures today because there's something wrong with our camera, but the Ladies look pretty much the same as they do in the pictures below.  They continue to grow and are now in the gangly teenager phase of life.  Their necks are too long and their feet are too big.  Actually, their feet are huge!

The nesting box has been moved from the den onto the back porch so as to harden the Ladies to the brutal summers and winters they can expect in Music City.  They're supposed to be kept at seventy degrees right now so they have the heat lamp on them over night.

The Ladies have made several more trips to the back yard, all under Big Sister's watchful eyes.  It was cute watching John try to get underneath Big Sister to stay warm, just like she would do with her biological mother.

The Rooster was not happy when he realized it now takes quite a bit of effort to wrangle all the Ladies back into the nesting box; with feet that big they can move pretty quickly.  It also doesn't help when they can squeeze through the lattice work around the bottom of the porch (or that the Mother Hen left him to accomplish this feat on his own).

When we get the camera running, we'll post some pictures of the new digs.  It should only be a couple more week before the Ladies are out in their permanent home.

Note: The Rooster and Mother Hen write a monthly column for our church newsletter about all things green.  We mentioned the Ladies in this month's submission: Saint B's Branch.

Getting Bigger...

It's been awhile since the last post.  In the intervening time, the Ladies have continued to grow and that's about the only change.

We've made a few more trips outside and Big Sister continues to herd them.  Here's a picture inside the house of Big Sister keeping an eye on things.

Here's more of a closeup of the Ladies.  They look pretty gangly right now, but we hope they'll be out on porch before too long.

We have a guest this weekend so hopefully we'll have some pictures of more visitors, though she's thus far refused to hold any of the Ladies.