Multiple Personalities

My girls are settling in and as they do so, I am getting to know each of their personalities.  You wouldn't think three creatures not renowned for intelligence could have such distinct and entertaining personalities but you would be wrong!  There is a very noticeable hierarchy which was established on day one.  

Libby is clearly the most dominant chicken and if Petunia is too pushy or gets to the treats too fast, Libby will roundly chastise her with a few squawks or hen pecks to help her remember where she falls in the food chain.  Petunia, being as social as Libby but not as dominant, is left to trail closely behind, picking up the bits Libby leaves and trying to get a sneaky peck in here and there to grab some of the goodies before Libby inhales them all.  

Frannie, well Frannie is my special child.  She is my Asperger's chicken.  A little stiff and socially awkward, she hangs around on the outskirts of everything but happily skips treat time and shows no interest in participating in the games with the other two.  Frannie is a creature of habit, always in the same roosting space, always watching from afar and if you look at her sideways she skittishly runs away with a look of disdain.  Frannie chooses to remove herself completely from the hierarchy as though she doesn't understand and doesn't much care anyway.  Watching them all interact fascinates me and I am learning their body language and what their various coos and clucks mean.

The bossy eldest child.

 I get through life on my looks thank you very much.

Petunia, my beta chicken.

Here is a very brief video in which you can hear some of the sounds that greet me when I go visit the girls.  Libby as always, is by far the most vocal and she will tell me in no uncertain terms that she does not approve of the fact that I brought a camera and not cracked corn with me.







Meanwhile, fall has settled in seemingly overnight.  Despite our beautiful days, it's been quite cold at night and my beech trees are showing the first signs of their glorious fall colors.

 The lovely gold of the beeches and in the foreground, the deep red of my blueberry bushes.

 

Stabby watches the leaves change from her new favorite perch on my printer.

My crab apple tree is heavy with fruit.  Stand back...I'm going to try making chutney and jelly! 

One of the things I have learned since moving out here is to appreciate things that suburbia used to make me squeamish about.  Nature is a little closer on the mini-farm and I am far less likely to intrude on it than I used to be.  For instance, I've been keeping my eye on this (sorry to those of you who are going to shudder...)

Art in nature.

This guy set up shop between the hot tub and the beam of the covered part of my deck.  There was a time when I would have suppressed a shriek, run inside, grabbed the can of Raid and used it in its entirety.  But I have let him be.  You can't see the web on the photo but it is a thing of perfection.  What you can see are all the bugs he's eating for me and I just don't see any reason to mess with him since he's not messing with me and he picked a good location where I am not going to accidentally run into him.  I like the idea of letting things be and intruding as little as possible with my little ecosystem. 

Finally, I attended the Washington Outdoor Women's workshop this weekend.  Fantastic classes, really inspiring women - both participants and instructors - and incredibly well run and organized.  For an entirely volunteer endeavor, I was enormously impressed.  Not only will I return next year but I signed up to volunteer with the production next year. 

My next post will shamelessly poach some fantastic photos my mom took during their recent 3 week road trip to Alaska.  Stay tuned...