Tales from the Coop. Week 4.

Who needs television when you have chickens? Seriously, I never realized how entertaining chickens are----pull up a seat and you'll witness face offs, melodrama, frantic chases around the chicken yard, new feathers changing the way they look daily... Chickens constantly provide a laugh with their distinct personalities. When we brought our chicks home we were planning on eggs but we had not idea of the entertainment we were in for! So much fun!

This is Fancy Feet, a Silky Bantam. We're not sure if Fancy Feet is a male or female. We think he's a male. Fancy Feet is a Silky and also an expert at nabbing food. They all love dandelions and when we throw one into the pen a chicken grabs it up and starts running with a frantic look on her face----where to go? Where can she go to secretly devour this succulent morsel in private? Ah, but there's no such place in the chicken pen! All the other chickens give chase and it's usually Fancy Feet that plucks the treasure from that panicked chicken. Sigh, denied again.

This is Pie, a Frizzle (sorry Pie, this isn't the most flattering image of you)! Again, we're not sure of Pie's sex----and I'm not sure where the name came from, either. Pie bosses the other chickens around, running up to them and facing them down. Pie also performs tricks: jumping like a frog and fluffing out her/his feathers. Pie's also the friendliest of the bunch, allowing the kids to pet him/her willingly.

This is Macho, a Leghorn. Macho is a hen but no matter, the kids named her Macho because of her taller comb and Macho attitude. She is the bravest--- and I suspect smartest---- of the bunch. She's always the first to catch ants and to run out the door in the morning.

And speaking of ants, did you know chickens like to eat biting ants (the kind that sneak up your bare leg in the summer while you're hanging up clothes on the clothesline and bite the begeesus out of you)?! Well, our plucky little chickens chase them around and gobble them up----a wonderful trait, indeed! The chicken coop is right next to an anthill-----mmmm, breakfast!

**Want to view more chickens? Check the flickr group: Nobody Here But Us Chickens... Lots of fun photos there.

**Want to order your own chickens? Check McMurray Hatchery. They also provide information about chicken breeds and raising your own flock.