2.27.2012

thank you, and to know another (little) chicken.

i will not be able to adequately articulate the effect of your kindness and uncommonly encouraging words here. you have all been so unabashedly supportive about us starting our own farm and it gives me/us such extraordinary strength to have you say such things. and strength is needed as it has recently dawned on me that we have no idea what we are doing. but that topic is for another day. today, i simply wanted to say, thank YOU. we are thrilled and anxious and our hearts are beating very very quickly with anticipation of this move. just five more weeks today. five more weeks until we are farming on our own.

so for today, i wanted to continue on with my endlessly fascinating (sarcasm intended) features on the sparkling personalities of the chicken coop.

and today that personality is a little hen christened mary catherine, but affectionately called egg. egg is my pocket chicken. she is, quite literally, a third the size of her colleagues. and so, she fits --nearly--in my vest pocket. i'm not certain why she hasn't grown since november but it doesn't seem to be bothering her at all. she is fierce. and cunning. and a survivalist. and a Love Bug. she is the only chicken that lets me scoop her up for a snuggle whenever i please. i think she likes the relative safety of my arms. she knows, from the experience of the every day, that i will not drop her. that i will not pluck out her tail feathers with my nasty little beak (you bastard chickens can be sooo cruel). that i will not bully her away from food.  i usually give her a handful of grain in my arms so she can dine undisturbed. i bring her to the water fountain and give her several minutes of bodyguarded drinking.

but she takes care of her self. she has a brilliantly selected roost in the coop that she claims hours before the rest think about sleep. it is up at the top of the perches. right by the heat lamp. there she sleeps in  safety and in warmth while the others jostle on the lower rungs. she isn't afraid to venutre outside for nourishment but as soon as she realizes she is being bullied she flees back to the safety of the Top Rung.

she is a little peanut of a chicken. and julie (who snapped the photo above on friday) would also tell you as much. and nick is starting to come around to egg too. i'm not making any promises but we haven't had a house chicken since the days of sweet florence and it just may be time again.

11 comments:

  1. Ah! What a darling post. I just love animals. xo, rv

    http://aneclecticheap.blogspot.com/

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  2. I DO think their personalities are fascinating :) And Egg sounds very much like she is bonded to you. I hope she gets to come into the house.

    Those of us who don't have any chickens don't mind reading more about them, so just keep taking pics and writing for us! Love it.

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    1. thank you Mary Marjorie! I don't think I will ever stop photographing the little chicks :)

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  3. does egg have different feather patterns/colors than the rest of the flock? it's possible she's a bantam, included as one of the novelties/exotics in your order. it would explain her size!

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  4. This is so sweet :-) it cheers me up!!!

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  5. @brian, i thought she might be a bantam too, but she has the exact pattern and coloring of the red stars and i've never heard of a red star bantam....have you? i think the poor girl is just drastically stunted.

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  6. Kate,

    I've been following your blog for a good while and keep meaning to leave a comment to tell you how much I love reading it and how happy I am that y'all are going to rent a place and farm. My husband and I have chickens and three great pyrenees dogs (mom, dad, and baby) and a mediumish garden. But we really want some more land and are looking to eventually rent, too. So even though it's scary and you don't feel like you know what you're doing (I never know what I'm doing), I'm so glad you're jumping out and being brave and are going to go work to live that beautiful life you want to live. That can't be a bad thing to do. So best of luck to you, and I'll continue to wish you well through the blogosphere. Oh, and I love how you love your animals. I'm kind of silly about animals, and I totally identify with your, for example, considering having another house chicken. I've taught all my great pyrenees dogs to pile on top of me on the couch, much to my husband's chagrin. Again, wishing you well,

    Katy Van Wyk

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  7. Oh, and we're in Winterville, GA and I kind of keep a blog morewithlessfarm.tumblr.com (even though we definitely don't live on a farm).

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  8. I don't remember how I stumbled upon your blog, but I am so glad I did. I'm a little late to the party, but I just wanted to say that I think what you are doing is awesome. I love that you two are actually doing what a lot of people just talk about. I wish you the absolute best of luck as you venture to Vermont. I can't wait to hear about it on your blog.

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  9. I for one very much enjoy learning about your chickens. I so admire your lifestyle and the appreciation you show for your animals. If only more people were this way!

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  10. Strainer jealously. Thanks for posting this. I'm definitely gonna try my hand at this over the summer. Yum.

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