A Curious Hen. They seem to be always hungry now. Maybe there are too many. I should find someone to take 4 or 6 mid-mature birds as a group... They are hard to resist, so when an outgoing hen runs over to me like this I usually break down and give them some more feed, or, as a special tree, hemp seeds. It's helpful to have a few bird accustomed to eating out of the palm of your hand for when visitors come and want enjoy that "sense of wonder" with Silky chickens. It's funny how they can seem so curious, and judgmental, like some sort of prophet birds from the old Testament. Maybe Amos was a woman? I have no reason at all to come up with that question, it's just that the bird that put me into prophet-musing mode was a hen, you know like female... Not that the metaphor seems to transfer well to human societies, except for laughs..

#BackyardChickens #SIlkyHen #Silkies #SIlkyChickens #烏骨鶏 #烏骨鶏雌鶏

I see tips about how to keep your backyard chickens cool: put mint in their water, hang froze watermelon (costs a fortune in Japan..).. But I wonder if those people keep the birds cooped. These Silkies are fee to wander around under bushes and all sort so green vine entanglements, to burrow under leaf mulch.. Hopefully it's enough to keep them cool. During the awfully hot summer last year the eggs were runny, the yolks broke as soon as you cracked the egg. I hear it's becasue they have to drink a lot more water.. Whatever it is, it must be the heat stress. Might have to work out a way to keep Mangle from getting stuck out in the sun...

#BackyardChickens #SilkyChickens #烏骨鶏 #Silkies

BSFL treats!!
The Black Soldier Larvae are good about climbing up into and around the lid to the composter. Almost every morning, when I take the kitchen waste なまごみ out I can grab some for the hens. It's good to keep some of the hens into the habit of eating out of the hand for when visitors want to get a close up look... If you have the time you can get the chicks used to being handled, but it's not bad to simply appreciate animals from an appropriate distance..

I promised to show some of the cute little 幼虫 larvae to some people in class. Of the 5 or 10 I mentioned it too, 1 or 2 may be sincerely positive about a larvae visit. Our educational systems are not doing a good job fomenting a "Sense of Wonder" in a general sort of way. I took some in last year. It's surprising to see who run-away frightened and who can work up the courage to take a close look, or even touch these healthy little critters. Biwa the SilkyHen came into class once: for learning "...come through the window.. come into the room.." I should try something like that again, generates interesting drawings: Might be able to work chickens into the lessons for "go" and "come"..

Irritated with myself for getting some BSFL into a yogurt container all ready to go to class and then forgetting them. Oh well,,, maybe next week. The hens get to eat the BSLF in the evening regardless..

#BSFL #Silkies #SilkyHens #アメリカミズアブ #BlackSoldierFlyLarvae #烏骨鶏 #烏骨鶏雌鳥

The Silky Mangle3 can get weed vines tangled up in her legs. It makes it even harder for her to get from one place to another as she flops around. The chicks that come out of the egg with twisted bodies get less and less mobile as they grow getting heavier and a big more adult hen-shaped. Without a sudden violent effort she can only turn around in circles now.. I started to untangle these vines then thought it would take less time to just go get scissors.. It's good I took the photos to remind me that I forgot what I was doing before getting to the scissors. So today will be a good day for a home-visit lunch break I guess. A short commute is important! Quality of Life! (For both you and any animals or whatever you caring for...)
#Silkies #SilkyChikens #SilkyMangle #BackyardChickens #烏骨鶏 #SilkyHen #MangleTheSilky

One of the hens went broody in the box that has been serving as a night cage for a hen and chick AND as a go-to egg-laying spot for 3 or so hens... Now I have to make sure the other hens don't keep piling more eggs up under the broody hen, so I block the entrance with 100yen store mesh.. BUT, I have to remember to open it up again in the evening so the chick and MomHen can get in there to sleep. Luckily I noticed their confusion enough to remember last night.. Mangle can't move around much anymore so it's important not to forget to carry her into the big night cage with all the others. I think our problem with the feral cat that came to eat a chick or two a day got started that way. I forgot to move a Mangle Hen to safey one night, and the feral cat came and ate her, developing a taste for Silky...

The hen with the chick looks very judgmental. They can seem to have very tough, strict expressions..
#SIlkies #SilkyChickens #SIlkyHens #烏骨鶏 #烏骨鶏雌鶏

It's a rainy weekend. There are lulls that are helpful for biking over to the craft fair without getting soaked or for running out to walk the dog, feed the birds, shut the cages up for safety, or to keep some hens from adding to the eggs already under broody hens..

Rainy Day SIlkies remind me of the phrase "Bad Hair Day", it made me giggle the first time I heard it...
#SilkyHen #SIlkyBadHair #SIlkyBadHairDay #烏骨鶏 #烏骨鶏雛 #SilkyChick

Breakfast with Nice Rooster Pear setting a relaxed pace...
The obnoxious means rooster get named after obnoxious mean Gringos and Afrikaaners and handed over to people who eat Silkies.. I guess it's a version of extraordinary rendition or forced icy deportation... It's a YinYang world that makes it hard to escape becoming what you hate in all apects of life, depending on how you look at it I guess...????

#SilkyChickens #SilkyRooster #PearTheSilky #BackyardChickens #烏骨鶏 #烏骨鶏雄鶏

Mangle Munching on BSFL...
And two other outgoing hens too..

#SilkyHen #Slikychickens #BSFL #BlackSoldierFlyLarvae #BackyardChickens #SilkyMangle #烏骨鶏 #アメリカミズアブ

The first BSFL, of the year!! It was nice to grab these two cuties out of the kitchen compost barrel this morning. The bird love these Black Soldier Fly Larvae.. When first encountering them you think awful fearful maggots but then you discover there are awesome insects, almost too good to be true the way they don't eat as adult so don't carry disease around, they actually keep away the disease-carrying flies.. And they turn just about any food (even animal manure) into high-quality protein-rich feed. If you can gather enough of these BSFL アメリカミズアブ together at once for tossing to the birds you feel like you are raining Mana down from Heaven, you become like the Chicken God..
#BSFL #アメリカミズアブ #SilkyChickens #BackyardChickens #烏骨鶏