As I have said before, I could watch our birds for hours. On a sunny day in winter (such as today) they, especially the peas, like to gather on the back deck. So I can sit in comfort and watch them through the French doors and get some good photos, though they would be even better were I to wash the glass.
On the whole peas are much more peaceful than chickens. They do squabble but they are quiet about it and it usually just involves jumping around. Yesterday I had given the birds one of their favorite treats, cooked spaghetti, but they get so busy fighting over it that they leave half of it lying on the ground, unnoticed, and in weather like this it freezes and is less appealing as food.
This morning one of the peas was making himself a nice dust wallow, and Loretta chased him away twice and appropriated it for herself. A little later Tammy did the same thing. The peas are quite huge and could whup those hens' fluffy butts, but they choose not to. Whether this is because they were babes while the chickens were all adults or young adults I don't know. The peas have no fear of Merle, however; they scarcely move out of his way and he shows absolutely no interest in them. He doesn't seem to know they exist.
When I watch the birds from the French doors Merle comes and pecks at things right on the other side of the glass. This is one of his behaviors when he is feeling aggressive (or shall we say particularly aggressive) and is frustrated. He pecks at random things and it's obvious he wants to kill us. And later when we go out this frustration will erupt in a frenzy of spurs and I will have the wounds to show for it. He is one lucky rooster as I can't imagine anyone else tolerating him for anything other than Sunday dinner. Though I think he is too tough for that now.
My Ameraucana hens (you see one here) are looking so nice since I got rid of the rootards. They are the best layers for us and have already produced quite a few Martha Stewart blue-green eggs.
The detailed picture of the peas shows the blue feathers that are beginning to appear on the neck. Before I had peas I would have drawn their headdresses sprouting from the top of their heads, but as you can see, they emerge from further back. They are so interesting to observe in detail.
1 comments:
I especially love that last close up photo of the pea. Such different colors from the blues although I do see that one tiny blue neck feather on yours. It will be interesting to see what sex yours turn out to be, and if you have guessed correctly.
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