Eddie might be the chicken man, but at least this isn't Philly... [OPEN]

[batteryacid]

Who: Eddie Kaspbrak (batteryacid) & Anyone who'd like a chicken.
and of course Angel (graveling) is probably on the farm as well
What: more about the chickens
When: Mid-March
Where: Kaspbrak Farm
Warning(s): There may be some discussion of chickens as food, but it will be serious. Eddie intends most of these chickens as egg-layers or companion animals, but other fates may come up.

The chicks who remain at the farm unclaimed, all about a month old by now, are milling around in the open 'yard' area around the chicken coop. At the moment, they are all about five to seven inches tall... not quite the little yellow floofs they used to be, as the down is gradually replaced by normal feathers.

The girls are Abby, Calla, Dena, Fay, Ida, Katy, and Leah. The boys are Art, Chuck, Dave, Ernest, Frank, Grant, and Huck. (I give you this information so you can more easily refer to the animals in threads going forward. The names are meant to be temporary, so you can talk about changing them once you've claimed one or decided to take it home.)

As he said before, the female chickens won't be ready to lay eggs until they are four months old -- which will be in May. So Eddie is perfectly fine with caring for the chickens until then. But his gate is always open for friends, and friends may want to claim their chickens beforehand to bond with them.

Especially if someone decides to take one of the baby roosters on as a therapy animal or pet. (Or alarm clock, maybe!) Since there's really no timeline on when the boys will be useful, unless breeding is the goal. And if it is, maybe trading one of the boys for an unrelated rooster would be a smart plan.

Either way, Eddie is still expecting to hear from Sam Porter, Mairi Miann, and Arthur Morgan about how many chickens they'd like. They could just send word, and Eddie will take note to send the birds along in May, but a visit would be welcome! At least to figure out which of the flock gets along with each person.

You may find Eddie scattering some feed for the chicks, carrying a bucket of fresh water to fill their various drinking dishes, running Kit the collie through his paces on herding the chicks, or just leaning against a fence post and watching the flock.

You're welcome to join him, or go right for the fluffy widdle babbys.

Comments

[maximumcake]

It didn't take long for word of the available chicks to reach Max. If he wants to start a bakery he'll have to think about getting eggs. Starting his own chicken coop seems like the perfect idea.

He comes upon Eddie while he's out spreading feed. "Hi, I'm Max Maximum. Are you the Eddie I'm supposed to talk to about some baby chickens?"

[batteryacid]

"Hello!" Eddie says cheerfully. "Yes, that's me."

He dusts off his hands, then straightens up and offers a hand to shake.

"Fellow farmer, or looking to set up a backyard chicken coop?"

[maximumcake]

"Nice to meet you," Max answers as he reaches out to shake firmly Eddies hand.

"I'm an aspiring baker, actually. Thinking about getting a little bit ahead of the curve by starting my own backyard coop."

[batteryacid]

"Ah, so you'll be wanting one of the girls. Half of what I've got at the moment is boys." Eddie points at one of the chicks. "See that ribbon on her leg? All the girls have one, and the boys don't, so you can tell which is which."

Eddie has had to switch out ribbons at times, because chickens will pick at them and not care about getting them dirty. But it's necessary for folks who won't be able to tell the chickens apart -- as Eddie can from experience.

"We've got a few more eggs in the incubator, so there should be more chicks on the way, too."

[maximumcake]

"Yeah, if you have any available. But I'd like a rooster, too, in hopes of doing some breeding myself down the line. One hen alone isn't going to lay enough for the need I expect to have."

He smiles when he sees those ribbons. "That's a smart way to identify them. I might follow your lead later and do that with mine. I'll admit, I've never done this before on my own. So any tips you might have, I'd love to hear them. And I can pay you back in trade with some baked goods once I get going."

[batteryacid]

"Hens can get pricey, it's true."

Eddie smiles, "A lot of this I learned on the fly. Chickens are social animals, so spending some time with them outside of the egg gathering and feeding is a good call. Let them wander around and get some sun, it's good for them. Oh, and! Chickens are omnivores. Don't get weirded out if you see them eating mice or whatever."

[maximumcake]

"I didn't realize they were social like that. Do they like being held and petted?" Because Max really wants to pet one. Like a cat, but with feathers.

"Wow, they can be mousers too? That's even better."

[batteryacid]

Eddie grins. Everyone wants to pet the chickens. "Most of them do! A lot are the offspring of Singer and Thread, and Thread is the docile one of my two girls." At the question about being mousers, Eddie gives a nod.

"Singer keeps mice out of the coop, and Agent Jean took a chick to train up as a mouser on Captain Zelda's ship."

Eddie crouches down and clicks his tongue, getting the attention of a few of the chicks. Dena, Leah, and Grant come running over, and accept some cracked barley from Eddie. Then he scoops up the girls -- one to each hand -- and holds them out to Max.

Max can either reach out himself, or wait to see if one of the chicks is interested in being transferred over to him.

[[ OOC: And I will leave it up to you, how Max and/or the chickens react to being face-to-face! :D ]]

[maximumcake]

"Singer and Thread!" Max exclaims, "What cute names! Like the sewing machine." He's terrible with names and he's jealous of how good those are.

"Hello little babies." He offers his hands out flat and clicks his tongue the same way he just heard Eddie doing it. Dena takes a little running head-start and jumps into his palm. Max stifles an excited squeal in the back of his throat. The look on his face is utter bliss. And then, when Leah sees it's safe, she makes the jump too and Max looks like he's about to explode into confetti. "They're so cute."

[batteryacid]

"Thread is the brown hen. The white one is named Bobbin," Eddie clarifies. Three for three on the themed names.

Eddie is happy to see a new person so happy about chickens. Getting to handle a cute little animal has to be somewhere on that hierarchy of needs thing, right?

Dena and Leah chirp and cluck at each other, and Grant scratches at the dirt close to Max's feet. And then, roughly one at a time, they take the chance to give Max a little nudge or nuzzle. Checking out if he's safe.

"Dena is the one who jumped first, and the other one is Leah. Grant down there. Just temporary names so I don't call them 'that one' and 'this one'."

[maximumcake]

Max bites his bottom lip in an effort to contain more joyful noises when the chicks all nudge and nuzzle him. He hasn't had the opportunity to hold something so small and cute in... so long he can't really even remember if he ever did. He has a lot of need to make up for. His thumb strokes them gently, over and over as long as they tolerate it.

"Yeah, I see how giving them temporary names is better, but, is it really okay to change them? They won't get confused or upset? Dena is a pretty cute name already."

[batteryacid]

Eddie smiles -- even if Max isn't making noise to show his joy, the body language is definitely giving his feelings away.

"Well, I know that Co likes her new name and her new person. Nothing says you have to rename Dena if you don't want to." Eddie shrugs. "Besides, they're young. I think they will adjust. And some of them might just not listen at all, no matter what name you give them. Bobbin can be that way."

From a pocket, Eddie produces a few small pieces of carrot. "Trade you one of the girls for a little bit? They like carrot as a treat, and I figure you might like giving it to 'em. They can also have blueberries and strawberries in moderation, but it's a little too early in the year for those fruits. No citrus, or anything too acidic. Weakens the eggshells."

[maximumcake]

Max has strong feelings about names and having them changed with or without consent, so he's less comfortable renaming even a pet. but he'll give it some thought.

"I'm surprised any of them listen at all. I was kind of picturing, you know, like cats? How they have a mind of their own." Maybe that's because of the mousing thing.

"Oh, yes, please." He carefully offers Leah back so he can take a carrot piece.

"No citrus, and no nightshades, I'm assuming?"

[batteryacid]

"It really does depend. Animals have their own personalities, even with the domestication and all. Some are loud, some are quiet. Some are affectionate, some are standoffish. You figure out their boundaries and work with 'em, and things go pretty smooth."

Eddie takes Leah and drops a few carrot pieces into Max's vacated palm.

"The leaves and flowers of nightshade plants are toxic. Green potato peels, too. But the tomatoes... for all that she's otherwise a good girl, Thread will steal a nice ripe tomato if given half a chance. So tomato fruits are safe."

[maximumcake]

"Yeah. That makes sense. I promise I'll do my best to learn all their temperaments so I make sure they're happy and healthy."

He holds his hand with the carrot closer to Dena and laughs joyfully as she pecks the piece out of his palm.

"I'll have to invest in some good chicken wire." Oh, so that's why it's called that. "I want to try growing my own tomatoes in a little patch so I'd better make sure I have any left by the end."

[batteryacid]

Eddie nods, and suggests a book for reference. "You can check it out from the library. It's one of the books I read when preparing for planting. And... being self-sufficient on food, even in a small way, is always nice."

[maximumcake]

"Thank you. I will." He makes a mental note to go right over to the library after this.

"I think so too. There's something special about watching the work you put into it bloom and grow. Being able to cook with ingredients you brought to life yourself makes it taste better."