I’ve put the Great Peep Tragedy of July 2009 behind me. These replacements are cheaping away in my dining room and they are loud little buggers. Lately they’ve been staging mock battles and getting all up in each others beaks when they aren’t sleeping or pooping in their water dish. I got them at The Urban Farm Store which is on Belmont now in a bigger space. I love this store with its racks of heirloom seeds and weird crunchy cocoa shell mulch strewn all over the outdoor area. I want to go back and buy seed potatoes but I can’t trust myself not to get more chicks. I’ve got a mad powerful urge to “collect them all” and so far I only have an Orpington, a Welsummer, a Speckled Sussex, and a Hamburg. I’ll need to stay away until my latent animal hoarder is sublimated by the manic survivalist who stays up all night starting 19 different kinds of tomatoes while plotting a closed loop off the grid system and drinking all the wine in the house. I expect her any time.

The Hamburg chick was a mistake. I brought them all home and then researched their respective breeds because I’m ass backwards like that. This is what Wikipedia had to say, “Hamburgs are hardy, active birds who are capable of flight and often jumpy around humans". Capable of flight? I might as well just feed her to Nina now. Apparently the hens only grow to about 4 pounds (which would explain why she’s half the size of the others) so are light enough for lift off. I have a few months to install an aviary in the backyard I suppose. Maybe I can give her to someone who keeps their hens in a coop with a top. She is super cute.

Here she is taking a walk underneath the table.

Here is a closeup.

Damn, I think she is my favorite. Damn.