Lettuce stupor

If you notice the chicken just below Rosie, you'll see a piece of lettuce on the ground.  This is what's left over from the frenzy that occurs twice a day in the brooder.  I have a couple of rows of lettuce in the garden that have turned a bit bitter with age.  In the morning and afternoon, I stuff two suet cages with wet lettuce and place them at either end of the brooder.  

 

This is Anna Elizabeth taking ownership, briefly.  

 And here is a frenzy at the other end of the brooder.  In fact, the blur indicates how quickly the girls and boys move as they jockey for position.  You can just see Ruthie's white head scurrying toward the afternoon snack.

 And here is an Americauna - not sure which one, running away with a snagged treat.  She is making such a racket that in seconds, others will abandon the suet cage to give chase.  Damerow, in the Storey Guide to Chickens, calls this Tidbitting, apparently a way to shred whatever a chicken might have, making it easier to eat.

But what I find unusual is the stupor the birds seem to fall into once they finish the lettuce.  You'd think it was an afternoon drink!

In this picture, I disturbed them when I opened the door, but you can see the others peacefully roosting at the end of the brooder.

  

Close-up - note Ruthie is facing the opposite of the others.  

It's early in the afternoon for them to call it a night.  I call it the lettuce stupor, induced by the fresh afternoon treat.


Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens

How it all began

 On one of our Thanksgiving trips to my brother's house, we stopped at the  Museum of American Frontier in Staunton, Virginia, just off 81, and saw our first Silver Laced Polish Rooster. Timid at first, our daughter finally stooped to feed the bird some scratch we bought at the Museum store.  He ate out of her hand.  


This was in 2002, I believe.  When we went to order the chicks this spring, an option popped out - TOP HAT SPECIALS.  How could I resist?  We had no idea what kind we would get, but we are getting a glimpse everyday of what our chicks will become.  One of them resembles a silver laced polish chick.

This is Amy when she was a couple of days old.

A week or so later.

Then some feathers grew

And pictures taken today, June 6, 2011; she'll be 4 weeks old tomorrow.

We hope she/he grows into the feathers on top!

Anne at Echo Mountain View Road chickens