soggy donkey herder on Nostr: My Sicilian pullet Owl has become a hen! Here’s her very first egg, compared with ...
My Sicilian pullet Owl has become a hen! Here’s her very first egg, compared with one of the Easter eggers.
I really cherish my flock as a whole as much as each individual. We started this flock (my third, my family’s first) in spring of 2022, and it took a whole year for the collection of young chickens to coalesce into a real flock. I lost a lot of chickens those first few years, but at some point in late 2023, they started becoming a unit that can divide and reunite, call for help, and summon humans for treats. Everybody has friends and enemies, but this year they’ve all known their place, in a very positive way. They *belong,* even the low ranking ones, and belonging is so much more important than anything else.
Beyoncé was my first head rooster, and he was good at it. Very watchful, not mean to the hens. But when Presley finally beat him for the head rooster spot last year, everything changed. Presley is such a wife guy! He absolutely dotes on his hens, giving them tidbits far more often than Bey did. And Presley has the remnants of the instincts to build a nest, and the Easter eggers (and Owl!) *love* it. Honey or Toast will start the grumbling noises that mean “I want to lay an egg but I don’t know where,” and Pres just leaps into action every time. He finds little corners in the barn that somehow happen to have a bit of straw in them (you’re welcome, guys) and does this intricate song and dance where he shows the spot to the hen. He picks up some straw and offers it to her, sits down to show her it’s nice, and then he gets out and sings to her while she tests it. It’s very cute, and they spend ages doing it some days.
ANYWAY, I’ve noticed Owl following Presley and the grumbling Easter egger on these nest tours. I found both eggs in the same nest (a pile of straw in a pile of lumber on a shelf, but they like what they like), and I’m sure the whole first egg thing was less confusing for Owl because she’s seen what to do already. Even chickens can have culture, and it’s pretty magical to watch it happen.
#chickens
I really cherish my flock as a whole as much as each individual. We started this flock (my third, my family’s first) in spring of 2022, and it took a whole year for the collection of young chickens to coalesce into a real flock. I lost a lot of chickens those first few years, but at some point in late 2023, they started becoming a unit that can divide and reunite, call for help, and summon humans for treats. Everybody has friends and enemies, but this year they’ve all known their place, in a very positive way. They *belong,* even the low ranking ones, and belonging is so much more important than anything else.
Beyoncé was my first head rooster, and he was good at it. Very watchful, not mean to the hens. But when Presley finally beat him for the head rooster spot last year, everything changed. Presley is such a wife guy! He absolutely dotes on his hens, giving them tidbits far more often than Bey did. And Presley has the remnants of the instincts to build a nest, and the Easter eggers (and Owl!) *love* it. Honey or Toast will start the grumbling noises that mean “I want to lay an egg but I don’t know where,” and Pres just leaps into action every time. He finds little corners in the barn that somehow happen to have a bit of straw in them (you’re welcome, guys) and does this intricate song and dance where he shows the spot to the hen. He picks up some straw and offers it to her, sits down to show her it’s nice, and then he gets out and sings to her while she tests it. It’s very cute, and they spend ages doing it some days.
ANYWAY, I’ve noticed Owl following Presley and the grumbling Easter egger on these nest tours. I found both eggs in the same nest (a pile of straw in a pile of lumber on a shelf, but they like what they like), and I’m sure the whole first egg thing was less confusing for Owl because she’s seen what to do already. Even chickens can have culture, and it’s pretty magical to watch it happen.
#chickens