Wednesday, December 17, 2008

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.


Thursday, December 11, 2008

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!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

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.

Monday, December 8, 2008

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.