The Occasional Chicken is where it's at!

Hello--if you're new to this site please start in the archive at Day 1 to see daily photos of the first two months of my chickens' lives.

[ navigation to the right --> ]

And if you're looking for current photos and updates on the 3cAd girls, come over to the new, less frequent blog:

The Occasional Chicken

See you over there!

It's Over

That's it--two months--eight full weeks of chicken development.
And I'm done.

The chicks are pullets now, and they pretty much look the same every.

But wait, this isn't an absolute final type ending. More of a long-drawn-out-you-know-you-should-get-out-but-can't type ending.
Which is why I present
The Occasional Chicken
where you can see the coop right now.
And lots of other stuff in the future . . . just not every day.


I would like to suggest you subscribe to The Occasional Chicken so you'll know when there's something new . . . because it won't be everyday.
But there will be some different stuff, out side of the white box.

I'm also going to put together a 3cAd book (self publishing style) so I'll post that up here when it's done. And maybe some t-shirts . . . if anyone cares now without a daily Pie fix.

And perhaps most importantly for those chick lovers in the Portland area, we'll be having an Open Coop in a few weeks and I'm thinking of putting an open invitation up on the new blog . . . we'll see what type of response that generates (I have no clue).

OK, see y'all at The OC . . .




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 56 -- Two Whole Months of Chicks!

Today marks eight full weeks of 3cAd -- photos of Noodie, Sallie and Pie every single day, no matter what.
I'm writing this out in the backyard, watching the girls free range. Their 'turbo boost' is pretty funny--when then augment theirs legs with a little wing power to run faster.
The coop and base are 99% complete--just need a couple latches for the egg door (the hardware store was out of the ones I wanted, and while they did have the even better solid brass ones, $40 for egg door latches is a little much in this economy).
Now for the run . . .



Noodle Soup: 1 lbs. 10 oz. serving
This one doesn't even need a caption . . .



Salad Sandwich: 1 lbs. 6 oz. serving
Look at all that tender white meat up front . . .



Pot Pie: 1 lbs. 6 0z serving.
Whoa, easy does it girl.
Actually, Pie is less of a pain in the butt as of late. Sallie and Noodie are a little closer with each other, but maybe Pie's just a bit more independent. When it comes to making sure she get's hers (food) there's no room for friends . . .


www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 55

So it's getting kind of common to meet friends of friends, or especially co-workers of friends, who know the chicks from the blog. And everyone lo-o-o-ves Pot Pie.
I will say she's getting better. She'll run across the lawn when I come back out from inside. And she even let me hold her a big today.


Noodle Soup: Catch me!



Salad Sandwich--Seriously, that's a chicken, chickdom is over.



Pie is a big fan of Michael Phelps, this is her impression of him on the blocks. And she doesn't see what the big deal is about him relaxin' a bit at a party.




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 54

They kept yesterday's new paper poop free for a whole day, which is pretty amazing. Actually two days worth of photos, but tomorrow's floor might not be as uniformly white. Oh well . . .




Noodle Soup stepped in Pie's mess on the way back to the cage, then decided to fly up on top of the cage and spread it around a bit.



Salad Sandwich keeps getting poop on her feathers. They probably all do, but you really see it on her. Makes her cuddliness a little bitter sweet.



Pot Pie, the source of Sallie's most recent discolorment. And the bane of my white-white studio.




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 53

If you're thinking about getting chickens and building your own coop, I'd like to ask you to really think about it. Not the chicken part, the building your coop part. If you're into wood working and have all the tools, or you're retired or are really underemployed but still aren't broke, then go for it.
Coops aren't cheap--I didn't even pay for any of the wood for mine and it's still ending up above our first how-much-should-we-spend-on-the-coop guesstimation.
So just realize you're gonna spend money. And use a plan. I drew up a sketch of what I wanted and have spent a lot of time midst constructing figuring out what I was doing.
And most importantly I have someone who knew how to build stuff help me. And by "help me" I helped him build me a coop. And it's still been a ton of work.

Of course my coop is totally rad (The neighbors are mighty impressed-- "are those mitered joints? . . . very nice"), though not totally finished.
"How long could it take to stain a little coop?" --Everything is taking longer than expected.
But after Memorial Day we'll just have the last 2/3's of the run to complete.



Noodle Soup, who put her bosom down in some nasty poop in the back yard. I grabbed a wet paper towel and cleaned her off . . .




. . . and while I was kneeling down, holding Noodie to get the poo off, Salad Sandwich jumped up on my leg. She does not like to be left out of the chicken holding. She later jumped up onto my leg when I was squatting down to stain the bottom of the coop.



Pot Pie, who ate a little bit of wood glue I was applying, because she does not want to miss out on any food. I may have gotten some glue on her wing trying to push her way from the glue eating.
(that's not glue on her beak, just normal chick feed)



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 52

Look at them all together, so big. Though this time having them pose together did not keep them in the studio--I had to retrieve all of them a couple times.



L-R: Pot Pie, Salad Sandwich, Noodle Soup


It almost look like they're giving Pie some cover to poop. Except they have no shyness about plopin' one down.



Just stay there together for another minute . . . tomorrow we'll go play outside, I promise.





www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 51

So the girls seem to be well into their teenage phase--they're at least eating like teenage boys. And when you're trying to change out their food, it's pretty much like Hitchcock's The Birds . . . well, not the pecking I guess, but certainly the swarming.
Today I took the feeder over to the other side of the basement to get away from them, and Noodie flew 10+ feet and landed on my arm, to get to the food. Sallie immediately attempted the same, but came up a few feet short. Pie just stayed on home bench . . . she knows her flight limitations.


Noodle Soup, teetering.



Salad Sandwich, about done with this session.



Pot Pie, settling in, after being returned from her first attempt at fleeing.




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 50

OK, it's has seriously been fifty days of me doing these photos every single day--this is totally nuts right?! Whoa!! Crazy!!!
Um, this was a late shoot for the girls do to a long day for myself--which involved bringing the coop (95% complete) and coop base (85% complete) home tonight. Of course the run (well, the base is actually 1/3 of the run, but . . .) is 0% complete.
So the problem with shooting late with the girls now is that they don't have their night light (heat lamp) any more, so when it gets dark, they march up to their perch and hunker down. I left a light on for them, to keep them awake, but I'm going to try not to do shoots after dusk any more . . . which is probably doable, as I only see another week of commitment to this project in it's current form.




Noodle Soup: 1 lbs. 5 oz. serving



Salad Sandwich: 1 lbs. 2 oz. serving



Pot Pie: 1 lbs. 3 oz. serving

Pie certainly does not look larger than Sallie, but I guess she's pretty solid. She certainly never passes up a chance to eat . . .




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 49

Chickens can be gross and annoying. That's how my morning started. I figured I'd do chick chores after I ran out for a bit, but they were making a big fuss, so I peeked in . . . have you ever used the bus station restroom in a third world country? Don't expect a toilet . . . I'm not going to get into details but no one was eating or drinking anything--which of course is how they like to spend most of their time.
Yuck.
They just can't connect actions with consequences . . . c'est la vie.



Noodle Soup



Salad Sandwich


Pot Pie

There has been a noticeable growth spurt over the weekend--they are a lot bigger. I'll have to pull out the scale and the mug for the next few days . . . wait, where is that mug? We didn't put that back in the kitchen, did we?




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 48

Apparently another big day outside for the ladies--of course I missed it because I was inside working on their coop. I mean I did other stuff, too, but . . .
Windows are done (97%), sliding chicken-ramp door is done (90%), nest box is attached to the main door/wall . . . some real progress, though I'm ready for it to be all done.

Anyway, I guess the girls ate a lot of worms. I believe it because their poop is weird--but not smell weird, so I'm not complaining.


Noodle Soup, still looking pretty fat. Too bad we're not raising them for the table . . .



Salad Sandwich--how many shots do I have of her on one leg? I don't think I have any of the other girls doing this . . .


Pot Pie "No poop here, nothing to see, move along folks . . . "
(there is, in fact, poop behind that wing)




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 47

OMG, look how fat these chicks are!
They've spent like eight hours outside today eating everthing in sight, with little apparent concern for nutritional value. Then they came in and started gobbling up their chick feed--in fact you can see it on a couple of their beaks.
Sallie got a big slug and managed to keep it for herself--kinda surprising how fast it went down the hatch once she stopped trying to get away from the other two. She's no the fastest runner--more of a trotter--but she's persistent.



Noodle Soup, full of grass.
Kinda looks like a russian nesting doll.



Salad Sandwich--so heavy she can't get off the ground.
Actually she made a nice high arc out of the studio, but the other two--calling it a feather assisted hop would be generous today.



This is what a fat chick looks like when she poops.
(beak covered in food)

But seriously, y'all can see what I'm talking about--they're stuffed, right?



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 46

Another big day outside for the ladies. They were out in the backyard all day with the (really old) cat, who just seems to be ignoring them. At her age they're way to fast and big to be considered prey.
Chrissy didn't notice someone pooped on her shirt while she was sunbathing and put it back on--that was my greeting when I biked home from yoga this morning (that's how we role in Portland) "Yuck, gross chickens!" Pretty funny, wish I'd had seen it.



Noodle Soup


Salad Sandwich



Pot Pie


That's it, gotta run to a dinner party.



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 45

I was about to run out to the hardware store to get some coop stuff, but there wasn't really time before my lunch engagement, so I guess it's 3cAd time . . .


Noodle Soup


Her new thing is to jump up onto my back while I'm taking pictures of Sallie, as at some point I usually bend over/lean in. Then she hangs out on my shoulder while I go through Sallie and Pottie's sessions.



Salad Sandwich



She makes me feel a little guilty about holding the other girls--she seems a little bothered by sharing the hand time.



Pot Pie



She only minds sharing food . . .




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 44

So y'all know this isn't going to last forever, right? The girls are almost grown . . . well, at least fully feathered. If only Pot Pie would hurry up.
I'm just preparing you for the day there's no new picture on here. It's probably going to coincide with the coop getting finished.
Which I made some progress on for the first time in a week or so--got the ramp done and screened in the windows . . . now to run the power . . .



Noodle Soup.
The first session with the girls today had some digital technical problems, so I had to reshoot them--they really loved going back in the studio.




Salad Sandwich -- The Karate Kid IV.



Pot Pie.
The bribery method of endearment seems to be working a bit--let her eat out of my hand, then she was happy to settle down and sit in it for awhile. They all are still small enough to fit in one hand.



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 43

So it's the other type of scale day, today, for a bit of perspective. back out with the mug from day 32.


Noodle Soup showing it all off and dunking a little wing tip.



Salad Sandwich hiking up her bloomers before taking a poo.


Pot Pie keeping it together. She was not nearly as freaky-outy with Chrissy handling her today--she even managed to wash her foot in the sink (poop, of course). I can't imagine getting that chicken over to the bathroom while staying clear of her foot--good job!




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 42

Another close call . . . but soon these girls will no longer be chicks and I won't have to do this blog every single day.
I jush got back from a new hotel's artist reception (the decore is very local artisty) with an open bar and lots of unhealthy hor d'oeuvres, like mini scotch (quail) eggs. Lot's of coolie Portlanders, but for our national audience I'll just mention G. Van Sant was in attendance.
And now for the chicks . . .


Noodle Soup about to fly, but with her pretty face still in focus . . . poop stain under her foot . . .




Salad Sandwich . . . yes, I think that's poop on her foot . . . it's cool, I washed my hands before I typed this . . .


Pot Pie--I've got a new plan for her. She's very stomach oriented, so I'm gonna start buying her cooperation with food--we'll see how that works out.

My friend Sandra, an artist for whom the rececption was held, stopped in to see the girls in person (she of course is an avid blog follower and supporter). She was pretty impressed with the rapport I have with most of the chickens (you know who I'm excluding from that statement).
Chrissy, my other chicken oriented roommate was just out of town for four or five days, and when I came home I asked her how the girls were doing--she replied "they're huge!"
Yeah . . . hopefully by this weekend I'll have 'em out in the coop . . .




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com