#perchy

[pangur-and-grim]

not the most exciting photos, but here are Wormbecca and Tallgeese in with my mom's flock!

we did a slow introduction (keeping one group in the run and one in the yard, and then swapping, etc), which paid off. Tallgeese lost a few feathers on the first few days of integration, but there was no bloodshed, and everybody is now able to coexist peacefully.

they have a great setup, with a fenced in area to roam and a large coop to hunker inside in bad weather, so I don't feel badly leaving them here.

[pangur-and-grim]

Milkshake and Brown Chicken* enjoying a snack

(Henny and Perchy were identical hens, one of which got ate by a racoon. nobody can decide on who died, so the remaining hen has consequently lost all identity)

[pangur-and-grim]

my mom's hen is going through the worst moult ever

[pangur-and-grim]

your chickens standing next to your moms chickens really reminds me how interestingly shaped your flock is. your moms chickens look very... chickeny? like, if i were prompted to conjure an image of a chicken it would more often be perchie shaped, not anzu or worm shaped.

oh yeah, you can definitely see the contrast when Anzu and Milkshake are side by side! it’s because me and my mom had radically different needs

my fenced-in suburban yard needed quiet, calm birds who were too big and heavy for flight, hence my globe rights advocates

meanwhile my mom wanted to raise chicks but NOT a rooster, which immediately limited her choices because there aren’t many breeds that can be colour-sexed at hatch. she also needed smart, fast birds better able to survive in a countryside pen. legbars ticked all those boxes, with the added bonus of laying blue eggs!

[pangur-and-grim]

so this time when my flock + my mom’s flock combined, MILKSHAKE came out as dominant!

this tiny grey piece of lint toppled two giants to take charge, it was genuinely impressive.

[pangur-and-grim]

there’s a particular order the chickens need to go in at night! because my mom’s birds Perchy and Milkshake are mean peckers, and all of my birds are intimidated by them. 

so it has to go Tallgeese (most wimpy), Wormbecca (intermediate), Anzu (most tolerant), Henny (gentle), Perchy (peck-y but will chill with enough distance), Milkshake (peck-y, least chill)

they’re getting along better day by day, but I miss the days when my mom’s birds were too young to challenge my gentle giants!

[pangur-and-grim]

today I made the ladies a warm snack! it’s corn/rice/chicken feed/eggs all cooked together

[pangur-and-grim]

she is looking respectfully