Teenage Chickens

Our baby chicks are now teenagers, with most of their adult feathers and a few of their fluffy baby feathers still sprouting out here and there. They look gangly and awkward, and they have attitudes, just like human teens. Cleopatra (not pictured here, but she has black "eyeliner" around each eye) is emerging as the leader of the flock, pecking me whenever I get too close and challenging everyone else to regular "chicken jousts" (where they run at each other and then flap up in a fury of wings). Sapphire, my daughter A's Blue Andalusian (the greyish blue one on the left) is the sweetheart of the bunch, and Bingo (the creamy colored one) and Ra (all black) seem to be the group's brightest bulbs.

They're starting to fly around a bit, which makes things interesting when I'm trying to put food into their feeder and not have fledglings flapping around the garage. Their chicken instincts are solidly in place, a recent visit by an overflying raven caused them all to freeze in mid-peck for at least a minute until the threat was gone. All in all, they're endless entertainment as they grow and change.