peas & pinfeathers

I meant to put this up last night but technical difficulties with the Blogger platform prevented me from publishing it :-(

This morning as I left for work I realized that I could see the snow peas from the walk--a clear indication that it was time to harvest! I have been so preoccupied with the chicks that I have perhaps been a wee bit neglectful of the other growing things here at 7477. The dog certainly seems to think so. But it is hard to tear myself away from the brooder. The chicks are so dynamic, even asleep, and their antics are so entertaining...

Each day they add to their plumage and their bodies begin to take on more "real chicken" shape.

a bit blurry (sorry), but it gives the sense of Gertie's impressive wings and developing body shape

Gertie is the biggest of the bunch and today took the lead in flight experimentation. For several minutes she worked at trying to flap her way to the top of the Mason jar feeder. She doesn't have quite enough lift yet, thank goodness--because once she makes it to the top of the feeder it is a short hop (and a long fall) over the side of the brooder to the living room floor!

But Gertie is not alone. All the others are working their wings as well. As with so many aspects of chicken life (as I'm learning) the actions of one set off a chain reaction among the entire group. So Gertie's attempts send Hattie scurrying and flapping from one end of the brooder to the other; which sends Rosie flapping from her perch to the other side of the brooder; and so on... It becomes quite lively and I think it's a very good thing we have shifted them to the new brooder and given them more room to literally spread their wings and run around.

And speaking of the perch, they all seem to quite enjoy roosting for at least a little while:

Hattie, Gertie, Sadie and Rosie (curious Millie was probably up close to me checking out the camera!)

And lest anyone get the impression that our lives are too chick-heavy, before dinner I harvested those snow peas and after dinner Hank and I took Maddy for an hour long walk!