Neighbours:TheChickenEquivalent ep. 3now up!Bring your brown paper bag

[magicpigeon]

The Morning After

Numero Un woke up after 4 hours of sleep (horrible mosquito bites on feet and legs- remind her to buy some knee-high gumboots) with a foul temper and itching feet. Unfortunately, the chickens were in no mood for any of her nonsense. They were waiting outside the house and ALL stink-eyeing her as she was an hour late.

Clever Peep (the rebounder) figured out how to get food early: from the food scoop!

Mister Buk buk tried unsucessfully to scale the steep stairs but it was all in vain.

He called Michael over and the both sat puzzled over the futility of stairs.

"Why did the darn humans even INVENT stairs???? To keep chickens out??"

Numero Un had started to laugh at this point, and finally get them their food. Not one to pass up this chance, Michael gave N.1 the stinkiest stink-eye she has seen yet and made sure to peck her on "accident" as she was feeding him.

<-------- this is how silkies are NOT cute and are instead EVIL

Meanwhile at the baby coop, somthing was wrong. Why weren't the pigeons coming out of the penthouses? Miley and Homer weren't arguing. Not a peep.
Numero Un stuck her hand in the darkness. "Miley?" she called.

"Homer? Are you --- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Another egg had been laid! And those two sneaky birds were quietly trying to hide it as best as they could. It looks like Miley is a girl, now, not Milo. At any rate, she's got another pelvic exam coming. As I always say: I'm not a gynaecologist, but I'll take a look anyway!

More stink eyes were to come. Bobby, for one, was unhappy as the coke can had to be removed. She wingclapped loudly and then turned up her nose at Numero Un's apology.

Luckily at this point food/scratch/bathing sack Numero Deux had some strips of shredded paper they gratefully accepted! Problem solved...for now

All the while, more and more birds were waiting for their daily handful of scratch. Dandelion the Light Sussex decided to take action. She grabbed Numero Un's attention by standing on her foot. She then proceeded to peck at her jeans. Both the feed/scratch/bathing sacks thought this was so cute they rewarded her with TWO handfuls of scratch, from the dove's personal bowl.

This cause all the other observing chickens to scramble onto waiting feet. They ALL got extra scratch, which I now have to promise myself i won't do again. Numero Un finally detached herself from the swarm.

"Okay, no more scratch!"
Yet again, more stinkeyeing.

But Numero Deux didn't feel guilty at all. Especially since chickens are incontinent, and they had been resting on her toes for the last 20 minutes......
She had to drag N.1 away, oohing and aahing. Apparently some people CAN be immune to the cute-ness of angry babies

<------ Horrible bobo's punishment for coming out late: dustbathing in the sidewalk. Argh, one which she has only recently discovered. Another area to clean and scout for potential nests. Ah, Joy...

 

[sonew123]

This is a riot!! thank you for such and awesome laughter from my belly!!!! to be continued I hope

 

[gritsar]

Oh my goodness, the pic of the dove

Such a look of serenity!

BTW, glad to see you have some real chickens too, not just silkies.

 

[magicpigeon]

Quote:
LOL me too. The silkies were from someone who I like

Hence, I keep a lot

Seriously though, they freak me out. They are tiny and the little 5th toe still gets to me

Can't wait for some 3 kg sussexes

Of course, right now I'm still waiting for them to stop cheeping

 

[magicpigeon]

Heart Attack, anyone?

Sorry, the camera is out of battery so I'll upload the photos ASAP when it's recharged

Today began as a sweltering 40 degree day as desert winds blew in from the West. N. 1 only went out briefly to feed the chooks and take a few pics. All the chicks were sluggish and the doves, panting. N. 1 took a few pictures, and fled back to the cool of the house.
Suddenly, she heard the sharp craw of a magpie. (sorry, I'll have to add some internet pics for now

)

A moment later, the sharp squeal of a chick and the loud clucking of two roosters and a bereaved mother. She rushed outside.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and lucky. Lucky?????

Lucky was missing!!

Numero Un started to panic. She heard the magpie again, distantly, flying away, and the shrill cheep of a chick. She ran down to the tennis court (un mowed grass) to discover a second magpie. And there was Lucky! He had fallen 3 metres off the edge, it seemed, and Numero Un watched in shock as the magpie casually walked away, with Lucky in it's beak. Suddenly, her cat-killer instincts kicked in. Picking up a rock, she aimed for the head. The magpie took off, dropping Lucky in it's haste. She quickly brought Lucky up to his mother, and he ran gratefully into her fluffy embrace. Phew! What a heart attack!
I think I now need a pacemaker, my heart literally stopped..

Pic of Lucky:

(Lucky is n. 1's special favourite. He took 2 days to hatch and in the end had to be helped. He is still only 3/4 the size of his siblings and cannot run as fast.)


Meanwhile, at the abandoned rabbit hutch, the two hens finally decided to come out. It had been 2 days since they had last eaten and drunk. N. 1 took this opportunity to dust the duo and check a hen for bumblefoot (she used to have it). She screamed loudly and ran squawking back to the nest to find.....her eggs gone! Little Jazz had recovered all of her eggs..and stolen a few for good measure. Unfortunately, out of 15 there are only 9 left. This means that BOTH hens can comfortably cover all the eggs alone. More wood to fuel the fires of sibling rivalry!

What do you think ketchup will do next to complete her epic revenge?? I'm sensing an epic blowout, guys!

More to come...

 

[artsyrobin]

OMG! poor lucky!!! you better put bells on that one! he has a special future to survive hatching and this escapade!

 

[gritsar]

Lucky is adorable

 

[mychookschick]

Cute! I like this thread and I think that I shall watch it carefully!