The Hubris of Chickens

Today I observed one of the chickens- the one with the floppy comb- try to 'front' Wiley. I was standing on the hill after collecting eggs from the nest boxes, with the flock scattered around me. I called to Wiley and as he trotted by, this floppy comb chicken actually puffed herself up at him and attempted to peck and scratch him. Of course, Wiley's attitude about the chickens is that they are not even close to being worth his notice. In his world, they are so utterly beneath him that he gets bored just chasing them around. So he trots by this one chicken as if she didn't exist and she tries to start some kind of fight with him and he just keeps going. I'd say she looked embarrassed, but she's a chicken and their default expression is generally one of startled embarrassment. Except for Wanda- she always has a happy and curious look to her.

Speaking of Wanda One-Eye, she truly is our farm ambassador. Everyone who drives up gets greeted by Wanda. In fact, we had a man from our propane company come and check the line the other day and Wanda was the first to run up and greet him. He was surprised and it put a smile on his face. He told us about his daughter's class project of raising a chicken from egg to mature chicken who lays her own eggs. We thought it was a great class project for children.

Also, now that the chickens are all free-range during the day, many times I find them hanging out around Wanda's coop. There are still two or three chickens who are mean to Wanda, but for the most part, the flock is generally really nice and friendly to her. She still prefers to roost away from them, even though she has every opportunity to follow them into their roost up the hill. None stay behind to roost with her, which just makes me think what a special chicken she is that she is an independent thinker.  (I'm sure there's a much less anthropomorphic reason)

In other animal news, Wiley and Atticus are doing really well and playing together really nicely. Today they even shared a branch to chew on, which is a huge step for Wiley.