Chick Chick Hooray: A Sunday Downpour

For those who are living in one of the areas experiencing a summer heat wave, please share! I'm sure you would if you could, but our Portland Sunday was a total washout. And by washout I mean there was a five hour solid downpour over my backyard where seven of the silliest urban chickens ever just happen to reside. And boy were they mad. And boy did it a mean a bad hair day for one little Co Co chicken...

I raised four of the girls in a little brooder in my studio and before my Co Co was a wild yard bird, she looked like this...

I have a strong suspicion that our sopping wet currant bush has something to do with her new hair style...

I mean, any one of us would look a bit crazed after repeatedly leaping into a dripping bush to reach the ripe berries in the high branches.

After watching her run into a rock, our fire pit and several of her sisters, I decided to Google search what to do with a Houdan's head feathers. Top recommendation: Give them a bath, blow dry their feathers and tie them up. Seriously?

There are no photos of what happened next because it takes four hands to give a chicken head a bath, but the end result is Co Co with a chicken mohawk. We made sure to wrap up her feathers with a clear band so as not to obstruct her natural beauty...

And, so her sisters don't get jealous, here are some updated pics of the rest of the girls. Notice how no one else seems to be overly dirty, wet or mohawked... 

For more on our Urban Chicks, read the Chick Chick Hooray Series here.

Much (Petal) Love,

Brianne

PetalPetal and VintageChild:Modern

www.PetalPetal.com

www.VintageChildModern.com

Chick Chick Hooray: What the Peep!

While I am totally aware of the fact that most of my readers probaby don't give a peep about my new life as an urban chicken mama, we got some new lovies this weekend and they are so flippin' cute I could squeeze their faces off. Instead, I am going to blog about them...

Meet Zsa Zsa, our little white silkie pullet (above) and Lucille, or Lulu, our bantam (mini) red frizzle (below). Anyone want to guess who we named her after?

Lulu also looks a bit like a character in the book The Dark Crystal (which I swear Auntie Elizabeth didn't let me read as a child, mom, as I know it was banned. I didn't watch the movie either...). I had nightmares about that creature as a child (again, from hearsay, not actual experience with the book or movie), but now I am totally in love with this little mini ball of backward feathers!

We ordered these gorgeous girls a month ago and have waited to put our other chicks out in their new coop and run until they arrived. Six chicks and we thought our flock was completed... until we went to the nursery to pick up Zsa Zsa and Lucille and fell in love with....

...Henrietta, our barred rock. She's a bit camera shy, but such a love! 

Our originals have grown in little beauties as well. Check out their indie band album cover pic....

And their "We're the cast of a 70's cop show" pic...

And our happy family picture. They originally united in their desire to break out of their new run into the  wide world, as seen below, but are now hanging in their separate flocks until bedtime, when they all snuggle up into a great ball of feathers and beaks and happily chirp themselves to sleep in their coop.

Lucille (Lulu), Zsa Zsa, Henrietta (Etta), Co Co (Not Chanel), Daphne, Petal and Georgie (aka Georgie Pants or Georgie Pordgie, Puddin' and Pie)

For more on the chicks and their crazy antics (and baby pics... awww), read the Chick Chick Hooray series.

Much (Petal) Love,

Brianne

PetalPetal designs and VintageChild:Modern

www.PetalPetal.com

www.VintageChildModern.etsy.com

Chick Chick Hooray: Backyard Romp

The little ones are growing so fast and I haven't shared for a quite a while (in chick time). They had their first foray into the great outdoors last week and I loved this pic. They all look a bit confused, but that didn't last.

They are growing so quickly that they look little even in these pics from a week ago, so I will have to get some new portraits of the girls to share soon. Co Co can hardly see past her mohawk, Georgie is a butterball with furry feet, Daphne can fly from her brooder to my sewing table (this is not a great development from my perspective) and Petal is generally right behind her and has finally grown out the tufts of baby fuzz on her head, which you can't see in this photo, thank goodness!


For more on the chicks and their crazy antics, read the Chick Chick Hooray series.

Much (Petal) Love,

Brianne

PetalPetal designs and VintageChild:Modern

www.PetalPetal.com

www.VintageChildModern.etsy.com

Here's To Hoping...

... that every other post doesn't turn into a homage to my little peeps, but really, how cute is this! The chicks brooder is in the middle of my studio, but I can't see into it from my post at my MacBook, so I've about done my neck and back in by ducking under the table to check on them every time I hear a particularly perturbed chirp (this happens often and has so far proved to usually mean someone is standing on someone else, someone has pushed someone else off her established perch or some other form of general chicken social incompetence). 


This time, however, there were four peeps chirping loudly in unison. And they sounded angry. I have yet to experience it, but I am assuming I don't want angry chicks on my hands. So I ducked under my work table and this is what I saw...

Now, for the close-up...

All chirping ceased the moment they saw my face. The little buggers just wanted some attention. And who could resist these little faces. Are they sweet or what? Another half hour lost, but really, they're only chicks once! 


And for anyone who is not enjoying my insights from my new life as an Urban Chicken Farmer, all I have to say is 

GUESS WHAT...

CHICKEN BUTT!

For more on the chicks, read the Chick Chick Hooray series.

Much (Petal) Love,

Brianne

PetalPetal designs and VintageChild:Modern

www.PetalPetal.com

www.VintageChildModern.etsy.com

The Current View from My Desk, i.e. Why I Can't Get Any Work Done

Yes, that is a chicken crib smack dab in the middle of my studio. And yes, that would be Petal desperately trying to make her escape. My two biggies have just learned how to fly up and perch when the lid is off. Trouble is sure to ensue...

Daphne has now joined the rebel chicken club. Petal is looping the crib. Thank goodness Co Co (not Chanel) and Georgie are not yet circus chickens in training. But they do chirp loudly whenever the biggies fly the coop. Like I haven't noticed...

More on our Urban Chicks here

Much (Petal) Love,

Brianne

PetalPetal designs and VintageChild:Modern

www.PetalPetal.com

www.VintageChildModern.etsy.com

Chick, Chick, Hooray: Meet the Peeps

Squee! We're Urban Chicken Farmers! We brought our four wee ones home this morning from the Urban Farm Store in SE Portland. Want to meet the peeps?

Here is where I start sounding crazy, but I swear each chick already has her own little personality! I wanted to name each chick a long and absurd name (after famous racehorses), but was overruled. I slipped one through, though...

Co Co (not Chanel)

 Co Co (not Chanel) is a Mottled Houdan, so her crazy pouf mohawk is only going to get crazier as she gets older... kind of like an aging punk rocker. Yay! She's a bit shy, but so so sweet! (Unlike an aging punk rocker...)

Petal

 Petal looks more like a baby squirrel than a baby chick at this point. She's an Ameraucana and is also known as the Easter Egg chicken because she'll lay blue or green eggs as an adult. Right now, she just wants to snuggle!

Georgie

 Georgie is a Black Cochin. You can see that her feet are already covered in feather fuzz. In a few months, she'll be a giant ball of feathers! She is so curious and keeps staring down the camera (and the dogs).

Daphne

 And then there's Daphne. She's a gorgeous Gold-Laced Wyandotte and slightly older than our other chicks at 3 weeks old, not 2. She's feisty and seems slightly off kilter (if you can tell from the photos), but did cuddle up for a couple minutes before attempting to claw and crawl her way down my back.

We also have a herd of dogs that will have to adjust to the new arrivals as they will be indoors with us for about 6-8 weeks. Bella was certainly the most well-behaved (I had to use two hands with the others, so not photos!) I have a feeling she'll be rather protective once she gets over the novelty.

 Here you can see Daphne and Bella making eye contact for the first time. She really wants in the box (to help keep them warm, I'm sure!)

As a disclaimer, these chicks are super sweet and cuddly at the moment, but grow fast! We've prepped the backyard to keep them safe and warm once they grow up. You may not want to try this at home! But we'll keep you posted on how it goes with our new little brood! If you're curious about Urban Chicken Farming, you can check out Backyard Chickens or visit the Urban Farm Store if you're in the Portland area!

Much (Petal) Love,

Brianne

PetalPetal designs

www.PetalPetal.com