Day 30

Thirty whole days . . .


. . . it's hard to imagine these girls as those girls . . .


They're like the anime verision of chicks--ridiculously cute, but not even like a chicken.




Now they're their own selves.

Hello ladies!


Nothing to see here.



They don't mind the studio at all when they're together . . .



. . . in fact here's the first flight ever INTO the studio. And, yes, that's Pot Pie.



Death from Above!!!


bye!



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 29

So we've begun our fifth week . . . and it's about twenty minutes to midnight, so I'll just hurry this up.



Noodle Soup looking very feathery, reminding me that the coop needs to get finished.



Salad Sandwich did a good job of staying still today. I had to rouse the girls tonight for their photo sessions, as I was out all day. I felt a little bad about it, so I kept it brief.
After the shoot I had some quality time with them--Noodle and Salad will just sit on my hand forever. I even had Salad sitting in my lap. I held Noodle Soup first and I really think Salad Sandwich was a bit jealous. "Handling the chickens" started out as a means of ensuring they'd be docile when we needed to grab them for any reason later on, but they're starting to become more like pets as they grow into chickenhood.

Then there's one who's not so docile . . .



Look at those crazy feathers starting to come out of Pot Pie's head. She's the only one who's still downy up there, but when her feathers come in, they come in thick. She has a bit of a feathery happy trail coming in as well . . .
To be fair, once she freaks and squaks for bit, she tolerates being held and will kinda nod off--so far that's about as friendly as she gets.



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 28

Just got back from surfing, but I've gotta get these pics done before the girls' bedtime . . . not that they sleep much any more.


Noodle is flying for height, not just distance these days. She'll make a nice, high arc on the way to home bench from studio bench.



Salad took about one second to fly out of the studio, but on the second try she stayed around a bit . . . and even left a present.



She is moving into first place for sweetest chicken. Sometimes they look a bit mean in the shots, but they're birds--not a whole lot of facial range.



Pie . . . still not settling into being held. And a short, straight flyer. She better make a lot of eggs . . . though she does strike a good pose here.




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 27

So I'm gonna stick with the portraits for a bit--blurry chickens flying out of frame was getting old.


Noodie



Sallie



Pottie


Noodle Soup and Salad Sandwich are still out performing Pot Pie in the calmly-being-handled department. I was holding Salad and Noodle flew out of the cage, tried to land on my head, found her footing on my shoulder and hungout. Then pooped in my hood--but a very friendly effort.
One of the girls has been having yucky poops, which can be a serious condition for young chickens so they're all on milk (instead of water) for a few days. Apparently chickens are lactose intolerant and it cleans 'em out. They seem fine, so I think they can handle it for a couple more days.



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 26

[Guest chick commentator/farmer Chrissy Morgan is taking over captioning today . . . photos still by Josh.]


The Girls' little chicken bodies are changing so rapidly that we've decided to post portraits; notice how many feathers they're getting!


Noodle Soup is still the prettiest of all chickens ever born, ever. She's our Cleopatra...with bed head.



Salad Sandwich is so awkward that looking at her can be a bit uncomfortable. We'll call this a minor bout of indigestion (please please please don't say "cokadoodledoo").



Pot Pie is dainty and the best groomed. She is our Audrey Hepburn. Shortly after this photo was taken she lied down on her side and took a cat nap in the studio.



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 25

Guess what?


Chicken Butt.



Noodle Soup falling off the studio.



No, really.



Salad Sandwich--look at the feathers starting to come out of her head, they look like hair plugs.
She has always been the most featherly advanced.



Pot Pie: outta here!

Quick shout out to 3cAd's newest fan, Natasha Leggero--I expect some good comments from you.



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 24

So today everyone only gets one shot--I got things to do . . . like working on the coop.



Here's Noodle Soup about to fly over my head--you can see she's only got two claws on the ground here.



Salad Sandwich, pre-flight considerations.



Pot Pie--look at all those feathers!

At this point I just open the cage, they all get out (there may be some food training causing this), and when it looks like I'm going to grab them again they all hope back in the cage--then I just latch the door--easiest session yet.



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 23

So prior to twenty three days ago I spent most of my time behind the camera shooting the other kind of chicks. Which is the inspiration for today's weigh in--

Noodle Soup: 8 oz. serving


Salad Sandwich: 6 oz. serving


Pot Pie: 4 oz. serving


I realize you can't tell the size differences very well on white, and Sallie looks almost as big as Noodie, but Noodle is much more solid under those feathers.
Of course Pie is the littlest. And the most freaky-outy.




www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 22

I spent a good bit of my day working on the coop (which is going to be rad), and I came home to a bunch of crazy chicks. This better not be the beginning of the "teenage phase" I've heard about.


Noodle Soup showin' it off.



Death from above!



Salad Sandwich's quick exit.



Well look who's flying now . . . Pot Pie taking the most direct, short flight possible--but she made the gap.



And then the first out of the group session.



Followed by Noodie.

Where's Sallie's departure picture from the group session? She just fell onto the floor, so there isn't one, but . . .



I did manage to get a shot of her on the third floor of the 3cAd condo with perhaps their first fan.
Their window looks out onto the driveway--ground level--so the neighbor cat likes to come over and watch.
When the girls move outside Three Chicks A Day might get replaced by a blog call One BB Gun And A Bunch Of Cats . . .



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 21

This is a close one, according to the offical 3cAd clock . . . But good!
I think this is the first time I haven't seen the chicks in more than twelve hours at a time . . . which is kind of sad. I really need to meet some of the other kind of chicks.
Wait, does that time reference make sense? I'm a little tired.

So I don't know what the girls have been up to, but they're all perching on the roost and Sallie and Noodie are the cool girls and Pottie's the odd chook out.
Their poop is starting to smell bad, and it looks like someone drank the water while they were in Cancun. Yuck. No pasted vents--which is about all I know to look for . . .
Noodle Soup.
less action shots today--I just want everyone to get a good look at the current state of these fowls. Look at that tail!




Salad Sandwich.
Pretty scruffy, but catching up in size to Noodie.



OK, sort of actionish for Pott Pie, as we usually see her not flying.
Here's she's just trying to keep from falling off the front of the studio . . . close enough.

And a shout out from viewer Becky T:

I got nothin' remarkable to say . . .

. . . Except that watching the goings ons of Noodle, Sallie and Pottie is my favorite single thing to do on the entire Web.

I just thought you should know that.

(and that includes porn!)

That is quite the compliment in my book, thanks.



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 20

We've been shooting these three chicks for twenty days now . . .



Noodle Soup, totally out of focus, but looking rad in a new lighting scheme!



Salad Sandwich in full flight.




Pot Pie still won't fly for the camera, but here's some wingage. (and poopage.)



And here's a photo of viewer Rob K.'s three chicks, which happen to be the same breeds as my girls.
They've come a long way in twenty days!



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 19

Lazy Sunday . . . unless you're a three week old chick. The first day we got 'em they couldn't stay awake for me than 20 minutes at a time--I came home last night around 2am and they were all awake, runnin' around doing their normal business. I did catch them taking a little nap in the sun this morning.



Noodle Soup is our most graceful flyer.



Salad Sandwich going into warrior one.


Oh Pot Pie, why won't you fly for the camera . . . actually, have I seen you fly . . . I think so . . .
wait, what are you doing? I'd been thinking it was just a little chick indigestion from scarfing down all that food, but that looks a little cock-a-doodle-doo-ish. You'd better not be a rooster.


Narcoleptic, perhaps.



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com