My girls are here, safe and sound in their new home:
No, they haven't suddenly morphed into magpies, they are just the sticky beaks that had to find out what was going on on the 'inside'. This is the house that my Dad built, and he did an awesome job, right off the top of his noggin. It has an open bottom, and is light enough that two people can maneuver it around the yard. I, of course, have Amazonian blood in me so I'm able to pretty well drag it myself. There is a little ramp up the side allowing them to get inside to roost/lay. Yup, he even made nesting boxes. I'm pretty chuffed, I must say, and it's plenty big enough for them not to feel cramped while I'm at work and unable to let them roam around.
Here they are exploring their yard for the first time. Note the little veggie box I planted a little while ago - I keep meaning to show you an update. Acorn and I have had innumerable feeds from it so far.
Speaking of Acorn, here he is wondering who the hell the latest additions to Crazy Town are - he honestly looked both shocked and horrified at them, and is still very wary. He doesn't worry about the Magpies and Galahs though, so it was amusing to see the shock on his face. It seems I have a colour theme happening on my wee farm - a black and white kitty, a grey and white bunny and grey, black and white chooks. Yup, monochrome is awesome. I did find out they are called "White Crested Black Polish" chooks (though they aren't the real black they need be for showing - course, I have no intention of joining the chook-show circuit (circus) so it matters little to me) - we were concerned that they couldn't see with all that mop on top, and thanks to the Internets I found out I can trim their face feathers - which I did, and they seem much happier. They have a large 'lump' on their head (which no doubt supports the coif) which results in a sort of skin 'flap' coming down above the eye - LaPaz has this problem to the extreme on her left side, and it seems no matter how many feathers I trim the flap still forces her eyelid half closed. I'm hoping as she gets bigger the problem will be less. At the moment she 'high' steps - I think as a consequence of her not being able to see much in front of her. And they're not the smartest of chooks - not like the big Isa Browns that Mum Dad have. But that just means they'll fit in better around here, right?
They are coming along in leaps and bounds - where they grew up they only had a small cage (and no roaming to speak of) - 'greens' terrified them to start off with, but they hook into them now. And over the past few days Quito has become an awesome scratcher, she gets her back right into it. LaPaz is learning, slowly. And boy do they POOP. I have never seen so much chook shit in one 24 hour period - I try and scoop as much up as I can to pop into the compost and sweeten it up. Yum. Like it's desert or something. I'm going to paint their house - just haven't decided how yet. Perhaps mottled greens with fern fronds, all jungle like. So there you go!
Hello Cryptstitch. You know, chooks never fail to amaze me. I've seen photos of the Polish before but when you see them in a normal backyard setting, they seem so unworldly. Incredible! Thanks for joining in. I've enjoyed visiting.
Love
Aunty Rhonda
Posted by: rhonda jean | January 11, 2009 at 10:25 AM
cool bird!
Posted by: Donetta | January 11, 2009 at 03:02 PM