Day 41

Chicken weigh-in!
It's been another week +/- since the last weigh in, so let's see what they're up to . . .



Noodle Soup -- 1 lbs. serving
A nice weight gain, but her advantage is slipping . . . it might not be that long before the other two pass her by--I don't think she's gonna like that.




Salad Sandwich -- 14 oz. serving
She still feels light for her size, but she is a more well insulated breed.
I have always shot the girls in the order I put them up here on 3cAd, but Sallie was not having any part of someone else getting handled first today . . . so she was actually the first in the studio.




Pot Pie -- 14 oz. serving
Oh, Pie--can chickens be mentally ill? You can't even keep your balance on the scale--are your nerves that shot from being picked up (i.e., dragged out of the cage)?
You're actually getting worse about being handled . . . you can just make a bunch of eggs and I'll hangout with the other two, that's fine, be that way . . .

What's been going on . . . ? The girls went outside again yesterday, not sunny like the day before, but they enjoyed themselves. Then they came inside and ate, pooped and slept . . . that's about it.




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Day 40

I think it's happened, Noodle Soup and Salad Sandwich aren't really chicks anymore--they're pullets. They've still got the tiniest bits of down sticking off their necks, but they are little chickens. Pot Pie's probably got another couple weeks to go . . .



Noodle Soup -- what a lovely little chicken.


Salad Sandwich -- daddy's little girl all ready for her first dance.



Well, maybe not . . . looking rather Seussian here . . .



Pot Pie -- not quite a pullet, but consistently good flight form. Or maybe she's just the slowest flyer and it's easier for me to shoot her.
I know a lot of folks out there like her for her underdog'edness, but that does not make her a joy to live with.

By breed Noodie should be the smallest adult hen, but she is by the far the largest since day 1 --she's at least 1/4 larger than Sallie, who should be the largest. Time will tell . . . but Pie better catch up. They're all dual purpose birds, after all . . .





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Day 39

A big day for the girls today! Besides getting their cage cleaned (your turn next weekend, Chrissy) the chicks had their first trip outside. They spent an hour or two 'free ranging' the backyard in the sun. They seemed to like it and ate lots of little stuff--whether it was food or not, I don't know, but . . . They stuck together and only hung out in one part of the yard, but I think we'll go outside again tomorrow. I may break from the white box tradition of this blog and take some outdoor photos . . . we'll see how much work that turns out to be.

They also got their own FaceBook Fan Page, which you should join, if you're on the FB.



Noodle Soup--WTF?



Salad Sandwhich--the usual.



Pot Pie--still oh so awkward.



Have I ever shown you where the girls live?
Home Bench, with Sallie letting Noodie know that it's in fact a doorway and not just a perch.



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Day 38

Holy crap, look at Noodle's cheek tufts! She's barely a chick any more--more of a lovely young hen.



Salad always seems mean in these photos, but she is quite sweet--she really likes to be held. Actually maybe they all look mean . . . beaks can't really smile, huh . . .


Oh Pie, why are you so runty? You're not just a member of the hair club for chickens, you're the . . .



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Day 37

So today I only took three pictures of the girls, and these are them . . .

This is what it looks like when Noodle Soup flies over your head . . . not that you're standing up straight or she started on the ground.




This is Salad Sandwich looking at you disappointedly, like for some reason instead of holding her you'd want to put her on bizarro white bench.


I don't even know what Pot Pie is about--I think her chi is outta wack.

I fit in a little time to work on the coop today. Unfortunately it was rebuilding the base, so it didn't really feel like progress. Our original tolerances were too tight for the siding, so we had to pull it in an inch . . . rather glad there were not witnesses to today's display of craftsmanship.



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Day 36

Whoa, big chickens. They're starting to max out the height of their three level chick townhouse, and it's at least another week before the coop is going to be ready. Not that the weather had been ideal for the move this week, but this weekend is looking pretty nice . . . maybe we'll just spend some time in the backyard.


Noodie, being aloof.



Sallie looking very mature in all her feathers.



Pottie still looking a bit awkward, with her Alien Nation head coloring.



www.JoshuaJayElliott.com

Day 35

I'm feeling good about today's pictures--these seem more true to the essence of the project--less flight-gimmicky.

We had a visitor to the studio today-- Benjamin Brayfield is in town from LA and doing a little photo project on urban chickening here in Portland. I'm looking forward to seeing the completed piece (and if you're in town and have chickens, he's looking for more subjects, so contact him through his site).



Noodle Soup strutting briefly before flying home.



Salad Sandwich circling the field for take off.


Pot Pie demonstrating her new hairdo from hotchickswithdouchebags.com.






www.JoshuaJayElliott.com