Cock,Cock, Cock-A-Doodle Do

From the moment I woke up to Kindra's email two days ago, I am having flashbacks of having infant triplets and I am even waking up two to three times a night.  It's like my mind is making my body go right back into a feeding schedule.  Good grief.  I hope I get over this soon.

So let's talk baby chickens.

My "baby" chicks are five weeks old now and finally enjoying the great outdoors.  This is the post where I try to predict what sex they are and then we can all come back to this and laugh when I have roosters attacking me and trying to peck my eyeballs out.

This is Matrix Jr, my homebirthed biological chicken.  This bird is a tough call because it is huge.  Matrix, his father, is a big bird and I'm fairly certain one of my foster chickens - a big, black Austrolorps that Bob's son brought home from a foreclosure - is its mother.  Since Matrix Sr is an Americauna and they don't have big cones, this bird could go either way.  He doesn't have much for tail feathers though.  My gut is saying........ COCK.

Now on to the hodgepodge of chickens the guy left on my doorstep.

This one is confused.  It looks like someone was trying to put two different chicken puzzles together -- one for a Rhode Island and one for a Leghorn.  See how the tail feathers go straight up and the rather large cone? COCK.  Amanda and I spent a long time over at Bob's yesterday and this one likes to spar.  This one is going to have a short lifespan.  I'm thinking fryer chicken.

Now this bird is wrong on so many levels that I cannot even adequately articulate them.  This is one of the Turkens.  See the big cone and the tail feathers?  I'm thinking..... COCK.  Turkens are supposed to be meatie birds, so this might make a nice broiler.  Bob shouldn't have any problem locating his neck.

This one is definitely a Leghorn.  I think this one is a hen.  Bob thinks it is a rooster.  I just think the tail feathers look hen-ish.  I'm going to say..... HEN.

This one has Leghorn coloring, but the face looks more like an Americauna and there are black flecks in its feathers.  I think this one is a hen.  She doesn't spar with the boys and is smaller in stature.

Part of the trampoline blew apart and there is stuffing all over Bob's backyard.  I am getting Bob's yard boy, Jerry, on it.

In this photo, the one on the left is absolutely an Americauna.  I can tell by the neck and neck feathers.  If you've never heard of that breed before, they are also known as Easter Eggers.  They can lay green, blue, pink, or even lavender eggs.  Let's cross our fingers and toes that it's a hen.  I have green eggs now, but I would really like pink or lavender.  The tail feathers are worrisome though.  I'm saying hen just because I am so totally optimistic.  Heh.

The one on the right is just bizarre.  It's the other Turken.  I am calling this one a definite ... for sure .... hen.  She acts like a hen.  I hope she is a hen, because Turkens are supposed to be well adapted for the heat, which means she may keep laying all summer.

So I predict three roosters and four hens.  What do you guys think?

Have you ever wondered what chickens do all day?  This is one of their favorite things.  The girls go to the Chicken Spa.  Now that Carrot Top is gone and we only have one rooster, their lives have gotten incredibly good again.



While they roll around in the dirt, Matrix, the lone rooster, lives the life of a rock star. He eats, drinks,  and has sex with 10 women all day long.

This is going to get interesting when those other chickens start hitting maturity in about 5-7 weeks.

We won't be foolish enough to keep roosters around this time.  I CAN TELL YOU THAT MUCH.