Another busy day.

Wednesday. Another lovely sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. The farrier came out this morning, I waited for him from 8.30 am, he didn't arrive until 11.30 am. In the meantime I brushed the horses, and painted the roof of their house, it looks great but painting in the midday sun leads to sticky paint and a clogged brush and sunburned shoulders. I also got to know the chicks a bit better. The littlies have certainly developed personalities too. Let me introduce them to you one by one.....

NIGEL
Well, I think he is a boy, hence the name. His markings are stunning, "barred" is the correct term for his feather markings I believe. He is certainly very boisterous and had been significantly larger than the others until Voilet had a growth spurt so now they're on par in height. His comb is bright and more developed than the others. Nigel is outgoing and usually leader of the pack, he attempts to hang out with the big girls too and is often kicked out of their triangle which results in squawks of disgust on his part. He likes to interact with me, and will leave the rest of his mates to come and see what I'm doing. If I sit down he will jump into my lap. He enjoys attacking outsiders, ie. my sister, my mum and anyone else he doesn't know. He's never pecked me with as much enthusiasm as he did with my sister's breast and stomach. Male? I think so! But if not s/he'll be renamed Nigella.


VIOLET
A big girl with a big appetite. When I open the lid of of the feed bucket she always dives in head first. She is not vocal at all and seems to know what she wants and gets it without making a fuss. Other than at feeding time she doesn't interact with me much. She seems to be a leader in her own right, she and Nigel spend a lot of time together. I love her grey/ lavender feathers, hence the name Violet. I am almost certain she is a girl, her features appear feminine and she carries herself like a hen. I have no idea how I'll manipulate her name if she is a boy, lets hope she's not as I can only keep one rooster.

MILDRED (Millie)
Mildred was named so because of her markings, she is mainly white with grey edging on some of her feathers which I felt gave her the appearance of a having mildew or mold on her back. She has a very sweet nature and it is hard not to have a soft spot for this sweet little girl. She deserves a nicer name, so I try to call her Millie but Mildred seems to roll off the tongue easier, unfortunately. Mildred, is a singer and is effortlessly happy. She interacts with a girly innocence. If I crouch down she's always the first to jump onto my back and run up to my shoulder where she'll happily sit while I go about my chores. At feeding time she'll come to see me while the others are eating, this is how she keeps her slim figure. Again, I am almost certain she is a girl so I haven't given much thought to the renaming if she turns out to be a he.

LARRY
Now, I'm unconvinced that Larry is a boy but the lady I purchased him off seems to think he is so he was named accordingly. If he is he's the whinging type of male. He is also very clingy and if he gets separated from the rest of his mates he makes a heck of a racket. It sounds heart breaking so I often run to his aid. I'm wondering if the others intentionally turn their backs on him or if it is accidental and comes from him wandering around without paying attention to where the others are. He is a timid worrier (yes worrier, not warrior). Many a time I've had to rescue poor Larry when he's found himself all alone. He craves company and one day he was on the driveway calling out for his mates in desperation, I made my way up to him, I saw him run to the hens and Berlina, Pippi and Xena shooed him away not feeling in the mood to babysit, he was heartbroken as he ran away in a panic. I called him, he saw me and came running, he jumped straight into my cupped hands for a cuddle. "Lets find these mates of yours" I said, he snuggled and whimpered while we searched, truth be told they were only about three metres away from him and they didn't seem as relieved as him when he joined the flock again. Another time he ended up under the deck at the house while all his friends were on the deck, his screams of desperation from under the deck were so loud. Eventually he found his way back up. Larry has a red comb that is more developed than the other two white Leghorns. I have a real soft spot for white Leghorns as this was the breed of my beloved Cluxy and Knuckles, they're meant to be skittish and unfriendly but this wasn't true of my girl. Cluxy and Knuckles also fooled me when they were young by growing the brightest and biggest combs before all the others. So Larry could be a Larissa. I think I would prefer him to be a Larissa but for now he's Larry.

MAGDELINA and MATILDA (Maggie and Tilly)
I call these girls "the twins". Side by side they are easy to tell apart but they are very similar in personality and they seem to be quite a team which is nice. From a distance I can't tell who is who. Their combs aren't as bright or developed as Larry's so either they're girls, slow to mature or they're going to surprise me. They made my heart flutter a little yesterday when they came out from under my car with black oil stains on their backs, they looked just like darling Maud who was white with the occasional black feather thrown in. One of them had the most adorable reaction when I cuddled her for the first time way back on the first day we met. She was the one that gave me the ear, eye and nose inspection with wide eyed interest and then fell asleep on my chest. They too are sweet and get on well with the hens, one of them started eating big-bird food before the others.

And then of course we have:

PIPPI
She's the brown and white freckled Bantam X Shaver named after freckle faced Pippi Longstocking. Pippi is terrified of people and I don't blame her after the awful treatment from her previous owner kicking her and grabbing her by the wings. I'm glad she's part of the family now. Pippi is the mother hen, she was very broody when she arrived and was delighted to see the babies when they arrived. I think they've helped get her out of the coop and into the sunshine. In the start when she heard a squawk from any of the babies she'd run to comfort them, now she is much more relaxed and leaves them to their own devices. She is a pretty girl at the bottom of the pecking order but she does socialize well with the two other hens.

XENA
Xena had the same treatment as Pippi although she is more gutsy and has adapted to life here much quicker than Pippi. She is the of the same breeding as Pippi. Xena is a real Warrior Princess, she has iridescent black feathers with white freckles. She is stocky and her temperament is level. She took an instant like to Berlina and they are very close mates. She comes very close to me without fear and has a healthy appetite.

BERLINA (Biggie-B, Robo Chicken, Big Red and formery "The Bitch")
Ask me this time last year what I thought of Berlina and I would have used some choice words to describe her. She is the last remaining old girl. She would be about 4 years old and has had quite an eventful life. Most recently she was attacked by the neighbour's dogs and rescued from the mouth of one of them by sheer luck that I caught the dog in the act. And through pure robustness Berlina remains. She is monstrous, one of the largest hens I've even seen. She is a pure Rhode Island Red and she has an unsure and suspicious nature. She was always the third wheel when part of team Cluxy and Knuckles, they picked on her and were scheming against her constantly. I often found her eggs smashed by the other two and once even caught one in the act of consuming her egg! Until the dog attack incident Berlina attacked me on a daily basis, viciously. She once attacked a mouse, tucked into a dread rabbit, ate a skink and whole dragonfly in front of me and pecked the eye out of a live rat. My theory was that I was next on her list of disfigurement or murder....until the dog attack. I suppose that rescuing her from the jaws of death made her see me in a different light. After the attack she had a different look in her eyes. I nursed her back to health and in that time developed a strong bond with her. She is my creepy chicken, she will stand outside my bedroom and watch me dress in the morning, not tapping on the window to let me know she's there, instead she just stares and I feel her gaze burning through me. She has been such a trooper and in the time she spent on her own she regained strength but was lonely, I couldn't bear to see her like that. Since the introduction if Pippi and Xena I've noticed that Berlina has become a leader and relishes the role. I am happy for her. She attempted an attack on me yesterday, it was half-hearted though. She has a stance that I've called "The Angry Cobra" which is a scary pose that she adopts just prior to opening a can of whip-ass. Her neck extends about three inches, she stands on her tip-toes and makes a karate "hiiiiii-ya" noise but only does the "hiiiiii" part, the littlies see it on a daily basis although I doubt she'd ever follow through with an attack on them, she's not that mean. She isn't laying at the moment possibly because she's just moulted but it could also be the shock of recent events, but either which way I am happy she is still with me. She is a great tour guide for the newbies too.

So there you have it, the feathered family.

 In the afternoon I went out with my mum for lunch and then to visit her friend's newborn grandson to deliver a pressie. Then we went to mum's friend's house where I saw the biggest Plymouth Barred Rock rooster I've ever laid eyes on. I hope Nigel develops in a similar way. In the evening I did some tidying up, about time!