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

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

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.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

[ If you'd rather just send along a letter for how many boy chicks and girl chicks you want set aside, feel free to reply to this top-level. Eddie will reserve them for you, and await you picking them up in May. ]

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?"

"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?"

"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."

"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."

"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."

Ava's quietly lurking about the coop, heard about the chicks at the nearby farm. Don't mind her, she just wants to watch for a bit...

She lets out a nervous giggle when a few of them wander closer to where she's failing at hiding, pecking at the ground near her feet.

Eddie finishes pouring fresh water into the last of several drinking dishes for the chicks. He looks up when Ava giggles, and gives her a nod of acknowledgement before leaving the coop area to return the bucket to its spot near the water pump.

He walks back and leans against a fence post, nowhere near her 'hiding spot', and says, "If you have any questions, feel free."

"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."

She vanishes, seemingly, at being called out. And then reappears next to him a short moment later, the air flickering around her like a tv station trying to properly tune in.

"They're funny looking," Ava points out with some amusement. Stuck in that awkward inbetween stage.

"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."

"Heh. They are, yeah. Got regular feathers coming in, but still a lot of baby fuzz." Eddie offers, "Would you like to pet one? Calla is very calm, and I could pick her up for you."

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 ]]

Her face immediately lights up at the offer, an eager nod. She's never gotten to play much with animals. But her nervousness comes from an entirely different issue. "Ah... can you. Put your hands under mine, in case I drop her?"

The request mystifies him for a moment, but that vanishing... he smiles nonetheless and nods. "Sure, of course."

Eddie walks over to the chicks, who swarm around his feet and demand pats for a while, until he extracts Calla by picking her up with both hands. She gives a curious cluck and looks around from her new higher vantage point, then nuzzles at Eddie's chest when he brings her in close.

Eddie transfers Calla to the palm of one hand and walks back to Ava. "Here, hold out your hand, and she'll hop right in. I'll move my hands when she jumps."

And Calla does indeed hop toward Ava's open hand once she mimics the gesture. Eddie does just as Ava asked, as well.

Ava watches his handling of the chick attentively. How the little creature behaves and responds to the movements. And so when it's offered to her, she holds out both hands in concentration, solid and stable.

"Here, chicky chicky..." and she waits for Calla to hop over.

"Peep!" Calla 'replies' before hopping into Ava's hands.

Eddie moves his hands when the chick hops, smiling indulgently when Calla puts a foot on Ava's wrist and looks up at her curiously.

"Eep peep!"

"She likes having the top of her head rubbed," Eddie comments. "If you even lift one of your hands near, she'll probably nuzzle it."

Ava earnestly nods at the instruction, and very gently moves her other hand cupped above the chick's head, looking between Eddie and Calla for approval until it comes in the form of the promised nuzzles.

"Aw... her feathers are softer than the sort I'm used to."

[[ OOC: Sorry for the delay! Sometimes Eddie's voice slips away from me. ]]

"She's still a baby, so that's why she's so soft. But even when she grows up, she'll have soft under-feathers." Eddie smiles. "If you want to hang around, it's good for them to get used to people."

"If you don't mind, I'll try not to get too much in the way," Ava accepts, still gently stroking and patting the chick.

"I have a farm, but admittedly I don't know all that much of what I'm doing."

"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."

A couple days after John's officially moved into the farmhouse, he takes a walk just because he can. Sure, he's got a goal in mind, but he's also been pretty quiet about his plans...and they may not be side by side, but Eddie's still sort of a neighbor now.

Finding Eddie scattering feed when he gets to the farm, with Co tucked in his front shirt pocket, John wanders up and gets Eddie's attention with a wave.

...or Co does, as she starts telling him off at the very same time from the safety of her perch.

"PEEP! PEEP! PEEPEEPEEP! Peep...PEEPEEPEEP!"

"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'."

"I don't mind at all. I like meeting new neighbors."

Eddie nods at her 'confession', and says, "The farming community knows the importance of helping each other. The locals were a big help in getting me set up, when I showed up here in autumn. And Greymare Library is a good resource. I picked up almost all my farming know-how by reading a bunch of their books."

He gives a grin, just a touch nervous, after admitting that.

Eddie laughs when Co starts yelling at him. "Boy, stealth goes right out the window with her, huh?"

He dusts his hands off on his pants and holds one out for John to shake (if he wants to). And Eddie can't resist leaning in just a little to glance sideways at Co to catch her eye.

"You still mad at me about the name thing, little Co?"

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

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

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