At One Week

***Disclaimer:  I realize that nearly all posts this week have been poultry related, we are excited and I know that many of you very well may not be, so just to let you know I am aware of the situation and will be working on evening things out in the upcoming weeks.***

We've owned our chicks for about 1 week now and I would like to officially introduce to you; Marigold.  She seems like the oldest of the bunch, certainly the largest and was the first to spread her pretty wings and flutter around.  My guess is that she's at the top of the pecking order.  She's extremely alert and almost has a sixth sense for meal worm snack time!  My favorite quality about her is that she loves to stretch.  I didn't know chickens stretched, but she does...a lot.  She'll slowly reach one foot behind her and simultaneously fully extends the wing on the same side, for a drawn out r-e-a-c-h.  Here's our little redhead:

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Well, there has to be one in every crowd, right?  Azalea is proving to be it.  Quick, a little bit runty but feisty, and doesn't necessarily want to be held.  She'll steal food, and is slightly advanced in her skill building.  She was the first to catch on to resting on a perch; roosting.  E and I spent a few minutes showing the girls what it's all about (did you know that chickens sleep balancing on a branch or the like?)  Zalie grabbed right on with both feet and I'll often find her practicing on her own when I pop down for a visit.  She's hard to grab a shot of because she's fast and entirely black save her tummy & fuzzy little butt (with the cutest tail feather in history) and she's a bit suspicious and skittish around the camera.

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And finally Petunia.  D nicknamed her 'little Tania.'  She's sweet, mellow but social, and loves to be held.  She also has the prettiest markings, Cleopatra eyes and is my current favorite.  When we first brought her home she seemed like a friendly little puppy that just wanted to play with the others.  When we initially offered her a meal worm she just looked at it and walked away...but after watching the other two fight over them, she's in the game.  In fact I think she has a pretty good strategy;  she'll wait until one of the other girls (Marigold) snatches up the first worm, then Azalea inevitably will chase "the early bird who got the worm," and then Petunia will wait for the second available...smart little gal.

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It really is so crazy to think ahead by a few months and wonder what they will have transformed into by then:

When fully grown our Goldie will look something like this:

Scrappy little Azelea, like this:

And our sweetheart Petunia like this:

*Hen pic's from the internet.