Day 81 in Captivity

Our captors continue to feed us healthy, organic chicken feed with a small daily treat.  We'd much prefer they fill our feeder full of meal worms instead of the chicken feed.  And that the daily treat be a big bowl of noodles!!!  Cuz we LOVE noodles!!!

We continue to try and dig our way out of our run, tramping down the dirt we dig out in the hopes that our captors won't notice.  But they come through once a week and put all the dirt back.  They even put a cinder block in the far back corner where we were making the most progress.  And, no matter where we dig, we run into this heavy gauge wire that has been buried around our run.  We suppose that it's a good thing because it keeps critters out.

We spend our days digging up and mowing down anything and everything in our run.  We've done our best to destroy the Liriopes that were planted there.  We've picked off all the Camilla flowers we could reach and scratched the flowers apart.  They magically change from their bright pink color to dark brown.

Our only communication with the outside world is with the Yellow-rumped Warblers, hummingbirds and White-crowned Sparrows which are small enough to slip through the wire roof that securely covers our run.  But they just come in to chat a bit and then flit off.  We wish we could go with them.

Our captors love to pick us up and stroke our backs and tickle our tummies.  Only Ginger enjoys this treatment.  I'd much prefer to be left alone.  Poppy especially dislikes this treatment.  She still remember that she had to have her bottom washed every day when we first arrived here.  Our captors keep saying it had something to do with Pasty Butt.  Either way, we're all glad that's behind us.  snicker

But on the bright side, our house is quite nice.  Our studio condo has three large nest boxes so we won't have to wait to lay our eggs.  It has a large window so we know when it's time to get up.  It's nice and warm on these cold, damp nights.  And it protects us from the wind ruffling our feathers while we sleep.  Our roosting bar where we sleep is just the right width for us to relax our toes at night.  Our feet get such a work out from digging during the day.

We're having a vote tomorrow to decide whether we abandon further escape attempts.  Given how plump we've gotten and continue to get, I suppose it's best if we just settle down and stay a while.  Besides, our captors have been bringing us more meal worms this week.

Pumpkin

Yoga for Chickens

Yoga for Chickens?!?  No, I haven't completely lost my mind. 

This morning, I actually woke the girls up.  It was just getting light outside and I had to be at work early so I went out to put some grated apple in their treat bowl.  I could hear them start to chatter to each other.

Cheep Cheep Cheep  "I hear mom outside."  Cheep Cheep Cheep  "Mom usually brings treats in the morning."  Cheep Cheep Cheep  "Let's get up and go see what mom's brought for treats."  Cheep Cheep Cheep

So I peeked into the house and said good morning to the girls.  And one by one they stood up on the roosting bar and looked down at me.  And with four loud thuds, they each hoped down.

Each did a few quick chicken yoga stretches.  They stretch one leg out behind them and flex a wing with each feather separated.  Then they stand up and arch both wings up in camel pose.  And then the other leg and wing get a good stretch so they are balanced.

Ginger on the left is demonstrating the single wing/single leg stretch.
Coco on the right is demonstrating the dual wing arch stretch.

I've got to buy a scale.  I'm so curious what they each weigh today.  I thought they were getting so big but I saw a full grown Buff Orpington (like Ginger) this weekend and she was HUGE.  Ginger is only a quarter of her size.  So, clearly we have quite a bit of growth ahead of us.

But back to chicken yoga.  If you are still not convinced that chickens do yoga?  Check out this book at Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Chickens-Lynn-Brunelle/dp/0811843114

Eat, sleep and yoga.  They do live the good life.

Anatomy of a Hen

I found this on the web.  The only identification for giving credit is "A beautiful diagram by an unknown 4Her at the Grays Harbor County Fair".  Probably drawn by a child who loves chickens as much as I do.

I thought this was a beautiful diagram and very informative in describing the basic parts of the chicken.

Birds Eye View

Ginger is just the sweetest chicken I could imagine.  We call her our Love Bug because she's borderline affectionate.  She will grab a few treats and then loves to hop up on my shoulder to watch her sisters eat.  And I usually tickle her tummy and sneak her a few extra treats.

Tonight, she hopped up on my husband and didn't stop at his shoulder but continued all the way up to the top of his head.  I think the fact that he had his hoodie up probably made it seem like just another level to climb.

I just thought that was too funny not to photograph.  She eventually flew down and went to forage with her sisters before heading off to bed.  They are now on the same cycle as the sun and usually head off to bed just after 5pm when the sun goes down.  Which means I don't get to see them during the work week as they are still asleep when I leave for work and tucked into their coop when I get home in the evening.

They also experienced their first California earthquake today.  Just a 4.1 magnitude which to us locals isn't much more than a foot massage.  I wasn't home to witness their reaction.  But I do remember being a child in California with chickens and being outside when the chickens began to act very strange.  I thought they were hungry so I went to the kitchen to grab them a treat and the next thing I remember was being grabbed by the scruff of my neck and practically drug outside by my mother as a rather sizable shaker rolled through.

Going Green

We are really going to make a push to go "green" this year.  I'm not ready to go off the grid or put solar panels up on my roof.  My goal this year is to incorporate all those little, easy steps that can really make a difference in the world.  And to educate others about how easy this can be and what a difference it can make.

Two years ago, my New Year's resolution was to try and not use any plastic bags.  I bought an egg sized, nylon sack from a store and kept that in my purse.  It has a pouch sewn into it so it packs up nice and compact.  And you can get a surprising amount of stuff in it.  This way, I always have a bag with me.  I didn't think it would last more than 6 months but it's more than 2 years old and still going.

I also bought some mesh sacks that have drawstrings and use for all my veggie purchases.  The only thing I don't like, is that wet items such as spinach, get the groceries all wet.  But otherwise, they work great and have really helped cut down on the number of plastic bags that were coming home with us.

I have a collection of reusable bags I keep in the trunk of my car.  This way, I'm always ready when I go grocery shopping or stop at Target to stock up on things.  My mesh veggie sacks are in there as well.  I can pull out just what I need or I keep them in an over sized canvas bag which I can grab and this way, I have what I need when I end up in the check out line.

Let's all do what we can to go a little greener this year.  If you plan on getting off the grid and going solar, great!  But there are so many smaller steps that can really make a difference.  Every little bit will help.