Charlotte the Ameracauna's Journal

[awesomefowl]

Great story!

 

[speckledhen]

Dutchgirl, my apologies for the interruption of your cute story. I've cleaned up the breed commentary. Folks, this is just a cute story, not a breed discussion. I'm sure if she wants to research Charlotte's breed, she'll go visit Breeds and Genetics. Now, let's allow her to continue her journal, shall we?

 

[artsyrobin]

can't wait to hear more!!

 

[Sportsterjeep]

 

[Dutchgirl]

Thank you all for your replies! (And thank you, speckledhen, for cleaning up the thread.

Our mods are wonderful, aren't they?

) I don't know whether Charlotte is an EE or Ameracauna, and it doesn't matter to me. I will post pictures soon.

1st day of the 3rd month of Winter
I, Charlotte, am standing underneath the humans' porch, where the only light comes in shafts from the cracks in the wood planks above. It is very muddy here, but it has some nice green sprouts here that are good to eat.
It was a bit chilly today. Warmer than yesterday, but not as warm as the two days before that. The man that has tended to us for the last month - exactly a month - did not come today. Instead a young woman came to do it. If I didn't know better, I would think that they switched off every month, but I don't care much. I'd rather run and eat than pay attention to the doings of humans. If you want a bird here that doesn't care how close she gets to the humans, take old Duchess. She's a little Dutch hen, nearly five years old. She's bossy and doesn't like to share, but we bigger hens can deal with her.
We did not get let out today until late after noon. The little girl that cares for us sometimes came out and opened the door for us. We were very glad to be out and about, and the whole flock of us made a beeline as the humans would call it, to the heap of food that they put out near the woodpile. It surprises me how they waste good food. Fruit peels, meat scraps, vegetable cuttings, and some weird grainy black stuff that doesn't taste good at all. I can't believe sometimes how much the humans waste (except for the black stuff, of course

)!
The rest of them are leaving. Some of them have gone up on the deck to beg for seeds. I wouldn't want to seem a loner, by staying here by myself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BTW, this is semi-fictional. Obviously, I have no idea what is going through Charlotte's mind, and I often don't even know what she, personally, is doing. In the first post, I simply said that she had been dust-bathing underneath the boat b/c I had seen one or two Ameracaunas underneath it, from a distance. I'm not sure whether it was Lydia and Lizzy, or Lizzy and Charlotte, or Lydia and Charlotte. It doesn't matter though, does it?

 

[artsyrobin]

so good to hear from Charlotte again! she sounds like a real independent gal!

 

[Dutchgirl]

10th day of the 2nd month of Winter
Today was moderate, with a chill in the air and a warmth in the sun. We were not let out today... I am cranky and tired of being cooped up in this smelly, wet, winter manure. The smaller hens, the bantams, are sharing nestboxes sometimes. I think that's silly and I boot out anyone who tries and climbs in with me. Duck is crankier than I am and she waddles around her two orange feet, quacking and squawking constantly. She rarely climbs in her duck tub to bathe; I guess the ice in it when it was colder discouraged her. One of the Human Girls used to chase her so she had nowhere to go but the tub, and Duck would scrabble across the ice and sit down on it. The Girl thought that was fairly funny.
The Younger Woman who is supposed to take care of us neglected this morning again, and instead an Older Boy came and cared for us. I don't like him as much; he does his job without gusto - come to think of it, none of the Humans do - swinging the cold water and dully pouring out the feed. I had to clumsily sidestep his heavily booted feet in order to not get my gray feet stepped on.
As the old hen Duchess ages, she grows more friendly towards the Humans and a bit less selfish and greedy. Or maybe more selfish; I don't know. Her laying has slowed. Somehow, I seem to even like the old girl. She's an old-timer - like Lizzy - and, although she's selfish, I'm sure she's quite wise. Lizzy, on the other hand, is completely dull and uninteresting. She, as the head hen, sleeps next to the head rooster, Napoleon. She's much bigger than he is, as she's an Ameracauna and he's a Black-tailed White Japanese Bantam, but they stick together always. The two of them have developed this stupid habit of not sleeping on the roosts inside the sheltered area, but instead directly in the wind on a roof of a children's playhouse. I scorn them, although I know it's rude to do so to your head rooster. I am loyal to him, although the rooster next in the pecking order, Sebastian, has tempted me countless times.

I must go. One of my pale blue eggs is "egging" me on (pardon the pun). The nest box calls to me... ow!

 

[axion_lotus]

I love this girl! She's got such attitude and spunk to her.

 

[4 Love of Baby Chickens]

This is terrific! I bet my Marshmallow would get along terrific with her. She's lays pale blue eggs too. But she is 5 years old.

 

[Dutchgirl]

Thank you all for your replies! I simply take information from what I know or think the chickens are doing, and fictionalize it. It's fun and I like letting people know the unique personalities of my chickies. Especially Duchess, my namesake.

13th day of the 2nd month of Winter
I have only time for a quick note. I need to remember this.
Lizzy told me today that there used to be a time when there was a kingdom here, back when it was just Napoleon and Lizzy and the other eight that were part of the first ten. She told me that King Barb the Plymouth Barred Rock reigned, with his queen switching from time to time between Silver the Silver Sebrite and Sweetiepie the bantam Plymouth Barred Rock Cochin. She told me that Silver was very much like Duchess, except that she didn't allow the Humans to handle her. Although she was skinny as anything and light as a feather she adored treats and even ate ants - the horror! - sometimes, when the Humans wanted her to. Sweetiepie, Lizzy says, didn't live up to her name. She was haughty and fat, and was a disdainful part-time queen.
Solo, the Golden Sebrite rooster, was Silver's match physically. They looked nearly identical, although Solo had a gold-and-black feathering and Silver white-and-black. Solo, Lizzy tells me, was as mean as anything to the Humans. Even more vicious than Hitler, Robes-Pierre, and Stalin, that came after him, he was a little devil. The humans grew afraid to go outside and when they did they carried a big stick.
Trigger, a Speckled Sussex rooster, was often roaming the fields, sometimes with hens and sometimes without. The problem was that, with six roosters and four hens, there weren't enough to go around. He was probably 3rd or 4th in the rooster's pecking order. He didn't go near the Humans; left them totally alone. Lizzy said that although he was not attractive b/c of his low point in the pecking order and also that he roamed alone, but she admired him for his peacefulness.
Napoleon, the head rooster now, was at the very bottom of the pecking order in the days of the First Ten. His name was Josephine in his first few months, as Lizzy's was Hawk, until the confused Humans sorted out the males and females. Lizzy said that she never even considered him as a prospective mate b/c he was constantly referred to as "The Chick".
I must leave. I said it would be quick and I've forgotten everything else that Lizzy told me. I'll have to ask her again about Ragamuffin I, Goldie, and her sister, Jane.