Farmer Nyel and Friends

Finally!  Yesterday I found my way out of the cranberry bog (read: turned in the manuscript for “Washington’s Cranberry Coast”) and had a look around.  At last I could leave vines and varieties and pickers and pruners behind and get re-acquainted with the real world.

A lot can happen in a few weeks.  Since I had surfaced last, the weather had turned warm, Farmer Nyel had made progress on the vegetable garden, and the four old ladies-of-the-coop had re-established their claim on their world’s worm supply.   And, under the heat lamp in the back forty, even the smallest of the baby peeps were beginning to feather out.

Field Trip

We have five new chickens now.  Two are still small enough to be considered “peeps” and three have reached the stage between toddler and adolescence – almost completely feathered out, developing their combs, and doing a lot of wing-flapping.  Trying to figure it all out, I guess.  I don’t know if it helped or hindered that Farmer Nyel decided they were old enough to take a field trip.

He put them into a small, makeshift cage near his work area so he could keep an eye on them.  At first, they did the statue thing – just stood very still, waiting to see what would happen next.  When nothing did, they began to practice a few new tricks – pecking and scratching in the dirt and grass.  They seemed content – didn’t even miss a beat when one of the old ladies (the Russian Orloff) came over and introduced herself.  She was curious; they were not.

First Meeting

They were outside for a couple of hours – long enough that they seemed ravenous when they were taken in to rejoin their little sisters.  They headed right for the food tray, even before they told the little ones about their adventure.  I don’t know if another field trip is planned for today.  It probably depends upon the weather and it is, after all, still April.  At least, that’s what the calendar tells me.  It’s hard to know when you’ve just emerged from the bog.