Published: July 22, 2009 09:43 am      

New habits emerge as babies become older

My chicks are no longer babies. Like most parents, its hard to see my children grow up. They are looking like young hens now at 1 month old. I can’t believe it’s already been a month since they arrived at my local post office from the Murray McMurray Hatchery. Let’s just say there’s a lot of estrogen flying around in the chicken condo.

At this stage they no longer need a heat lamp during the day, which helps out my electric bill. All of my girls now have white feathers and are starting to get little combs above their beaks. They also are eating so much that I will have to upgrade them to larger feeders and waterers.

Their little bungalow is constantly filled with happy cheeping. They should be happy. How many chickens actually get a custom-built condo to live in?

Cordy, however, is having some sibling rivalry issues. She gets into a panic every time I go out to feed my wild and crazy girls. No matter how many times I try and reassure her that I will be right back, she doesn’t believe me. After I close the door, she usually stuffs my slippers in her water dish or dumps her food everywhere — goofy dog. Cordy also has picked up another bad habit, which is eating the chicken feed. I swear she snorts it down so fast that she sounds like a little piggy.

My little girl, Snickers, who is a Golden Polish, is sporting quite a hairdo these days. The feathers on top of her head are sprouting out everywhere. She also has a different beak than the rest of my pearl white leghorns. Her beak is curved and looks a little bit like a parrot’s. One characteristic they all have in common is big feet. Yes, I said big feet. Their feet are probably larger than their heads at this point.

I don’t talk to my chickens as much as I did in the beginning since they are starting to fly at me. You would think they would treat me a little better than that. After all, I buy all the feed. I have learned one thing through trial and error — never try and lift a 50-pound bag of feed. I pulled muscles in my back I never knew I had.

I would love to set up a Web cam in my chicken condo to see what those wacky hens do all day and night. I also thought about taking a short video of my chickens and posting it on YouTube. I would like to know how many people, other than me, enjoy watching my girls. For the most part, they like to peck at the floor, a little at each other and climb up and down their roost. My girls also like something else — my old oscillating fan. There are some nights when I wish I had that fan back since Cordy hogs the only one left in the house. However, there aren’t enough cleaning products in the world for that to happen. My little girls like to stand on top of that fan — no kidding.

My chickens have one endearing quality — they are very cute when they are sleeping. My girls lay next to each other and look like a puffy white blanket.

Since my girls arrived, a co-worker pointed out that I could be the “chicken whisperer” — like the popular dog whisperer, Cesar Millan. I can see it now — my very own TV show on Animal Planet. I could spend my days listening to the trials and tribulations of chickens. I could delve into their psyche and see how they really feel about life. Do they really like laying eggs? What kind of future do they see for themselves beyond life in the coop? Relax — I’m just having a little too much fun with this. Unfortunately, I don’t think that idea would fly very far with TV executives. Most of them have probably never seen a chicken up close and personal.

For the most part, I enjoy taking care of my girls. The only job I don’t like is cleaning out their condo. Like most kids, they don’t clean up their messes very well. Even though I don’t like cleaning the coop, I still get a kick out of them.

I hate to say this, but I will be egg-static when they start laying eggs. Sorry for the pun, I just couldn’t help myself. It was an egg-cellent idea.



Angie Bicker is the lifestyles editor with the Clinton Herald. She has been with the Herald since 2001.