Indoor Chickens.... For Now.....

The PLAN was that the babies would be outside by now. But plans.. as the saying goes, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, right?

Back in October, a friend mentioned that she would like some Ameraucana bantams, but just couldn't find any. So being the enabling researcher that I am, I found some white one a couple of hours away. Yay! But wait... I also found some Wheaton and Blue Wheatons in Virginia. Let's get eggs! So we did, and long story short, those eggs cracked open on November 9 (my birthday actually, though that was completely unplanned) and ten babies tumbled out into my pottery studio.

Perhaps not much to look at in the beginning, but just look at the adorable-ness!

And yes, there may or may not have also been some chocolate seramas in there also. <GRIN> You know me. I have a problem. Anyway.... I also had a fever. For FIVE weeks. Crazy! The doctors think it might have been some form of mono. Anyway, I was worn out, and taking care of ten Ameraucana chicks and nine seramas was wearing me out. So I sold the seramas. And my wonderful friend came to get the Ameraucana babies. But there was this one chick.....

Every time I opened the brooder (a big rubbermaid container with a wire lid), the little one flew out into my hands. I insisted that I would keep NO chicks.... but then it flew into my hand again. And it looked at me.

And then to top it off, it snuggled down and went to sleep.

My daughter and my friend looked at me. "MOM, you HAVE to keep that chick. It loves you!" exclaimed my daughter. "I will take care of it until you get better, so don't worry." How could I say no? But it needed a buddy, so I put my hand into the remaining nine chicks and took the first one that approached. Just so you know, the friendliest chicks are dismayingly often roosters. And yet I did it anyway. What can I say? Perhaps I was delirious from the fever. Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with that.

So now I had two baby chicks in my pottery studio. Not too much. A bit awkward looking at the moment, but that would change. I was fairly certain.  And that first one was soooo sweet.

The second chick was a bit of a spaz, so socialization began in earnest.

It seemed to work well - that's the spaz nestled under my chin! Now it was time to wait and see what I had. I don't have a bantam rooster. I don't want one either, but hey, if that super friendly chick was a rooster, I'd consider keeping him. But it would be a couple of weeks until we knew. So we had fun visiting. They loved my computer, and they certainly made my studio a much more interesting place.

Who us? We never get into trouble!

They were becoming sweeter and  more social every day. And they got names. I was starting to think the second chick was perhaps a female, so I named them Tommy and Tuppence, after Agatha Christie characters.

Tommy is on the left, a blue wheaton. Tuppence is on the right, a wheaton. Tuppence is an interesting character - her beak has a gap in it, so she would not be a good breeder since she could pass that on. And she has odd feathers that stick out.

Tommy, on the other hand, is smooth and sleek. Tommy is also rather quiet, unless Tommy sees my earplugs. Both chicks are fascinated with earplugs - they tweet when they see them, running over and grabbing them, then running excitedly around with their prize. I'm not sure why I have ear plugs in my studio, but it's fun to watch.

Cherry is fascinated by the chicks, resigned to the fact that there are more babies.

She's a very patient puppy.

Tommy and Tuppence have grown more, feathering out in the chest area - a key area for figuring out if they are boys or girls. And what are they? Well, there is still a chance that I'm wrong, but at six weeks, it is starting to look like they are BOTH girls!!! Amazing!

They had a brief foray out into the outside brooder. But only for two days. The weather changed, turning bitterly cold (for NC anyway), and despite their heat shelf (aka computer shelf with a heating pad on it), they were shivering.

I think they enjoyed their time outside, but they were ready to come in and get warm.

They loved coming back to the studio. So much that they immediately flew up to my computer, closed the browser, changed the music station, and began to change the language to German before I grabbed the little troublemakers.

I really had not intended on keeping any chicks in my studio for the winter, but it's just too cold outside at the moment. Their heads are not fully feathered, and they are just not winterized. So instead, they get to run around the studio twice a day. I do shut them up when I turn on the wheel. Waaaay too much of a chance for tragedy or terrifying comedy. They jump up to my computer every day - but now I keep a towel on the keyboard.... just in case. I'm not sure how easy it would be to remove poop from the keys and I do not wish to find out. This morning they managed to open an incognito window in my browser with their toes. I don't even know how to do that! They bring so much joy with their little songs, their ear plug hunting pride, their inquisitive adventuring. I think I may enjoy this winter in the studio. And I will miss them come spring - but I'm sure they will love the new adventures awaiting them outside with the warm weather.

The Magnificent Hei Hei

Our Hei Hei.... I believe that because of this girl I will always have a cream brabanter in my flock. What do I love about this special lady? Oh gosh... it's everything from her blue feet and polka dotted body, her beard and crest, her call (something, I'd imagine, like the call a bird would make if you crossed a loon with an eagle. Piercing. But unforgettable). She's a funny girl, always poking her beak in to see what's going on, always yelling "CONGRATULATIONS!!!" to anyone who lays an egg. At the top of her little lungs.

Hei Hei is a very fine boned hen, a small large fowl. You can see how petite she is compared to our black Australorp, Raven (a dual purpose hen) and an English Heritage Orpington (Betsy).

Yesterday I got a special treat, courtesy of my spotted lady. While sitting in the grow out pen, I noticed Hei Hei creeping around the goat pen. Well, creeping for a chicken - that mostly means walking carefully without bobbing her head. She paused at the corner, and then RAN as fast as possible, and as stealthily as possible, to an old grow out pen that anchors the corner of a fence. She crept inside, peeping at the forest. I peered into the woods, but saw nothing. Just some trees and a small flock of birds - tiny birds, maybe sparrows or juncos. Hei Hei scooted out of the pen and sidled up to a tree, still focused on the woods. Suddenly she sprang out from behind her tree, sounded a mighty "BACK GWAAAAAK!!!!" and raced out into the middle of the wild birds, trumpeting and ferociously flapping her wings. Needless to say, the birds scattered, scared off by the mighty Hei Hei, who then proceeded to walk around in circles, bawking and flapping. Quill (our  rooster), came racing out, looking for danger, and stood in a confused bundle of hormones and testosterone, ready to defend against..... nothing? Hei Hei proudly strutted over to her man and escorted him back, content with her own magnificence. I love Hei Hei.

Yes, I know I had this photo in the last post. But I just love that they eat together still!