Good morning! Chickens of the same color are hanging out together.
New half-grown chicks
We’re looking after a new group of half-grown chicks, and I’d like to introduce them. There are three here, and a fourth in a separate cage. Somewhere, in a park or somewhere like it, some bad kids caught them right after they hatched, tied string to their legs and were mean to them in some game I can’t understand. A local person saw it, scolded the kids and took the chicks, raised them, then didn’t know what to do next, so they came to us.
They’re all different sizes. This girl is apparently Barbie (she has mud on her feet). The smaller rooster with red markings is Snickers, named after a candy bar. And this great-looking black-and-white one with his tail sticking straight up has a very stylish name, Spaz, slang for something like an explosion. His personality certainly explodes. The fourth, tiny one doesn’t really have a name; I was told they called it “little black bird.” It’s the same age but still small, so it’s in the nursery for now. Today I let the three loose in the coop. Strong personalities, these three. Good luck!
Chako goes broody
Chako has gone broody! (A broody hen wants to sit on eggs and hatch them.) Hooray… or is that something to celebrate? Chako, from our second group of chicks, whose growth we’ve followed all along, is now making a big fuss.
Remember back when Chako was a chick, and I announced, “Not Chako-chan, Chako-kun! Why are they all roosters?” Chako had grown a comb and had a fun, slightly quail-like pattern. Well, now Chako is broody.
Let’s show the whole world that bald patch! Baldness level: 80. So Chako is grumpy. Interestingly, Chako isn’t part of the team that lives in the coop, so Chako finds spots outside to brood and rolls eggs over to gather them, a funny habit we’ve just discovered. But chicks hatching would be a problem, so please, not in the bushes. I’ll be collecting those eggs! “What eggs?”
Sunshine at last
This spot makes a good hideout for weaker chickens. The weather has improved, so they can sunbathe again, which matters a lot for their health. It’s shady in front of the coop, so they bask at the back of the playground. Meanwhile the indoor types sit together: the top row is full, someone’s on the bottom row, and the top of the nest box is popular too. In the big birds’ room a hen is complaining, because laying eggs is hard work. (For how eggs are made, see EP243.)
Thanks for watching! See you in the next episode.