Thursday, November 29, 2012

Bigger, faster, stronger!

Still scruffy around the neck, but she's catching up in size...


Gertie is curious and comes in for a closer look.  Then she pecks my camera.

"You look shiny and tasty!"


Millie says, "I want to be curious too!" 
Gertie says, "Copy cat."
   Gertie is plateauing, size-wise, but they're both stll growing pretty fast...and they're so much stronger.  In another month, they will be close to adult size!  Isn't she a pretty little chicken?  I can't believe she started out as a wobbly little gray fluff ball.

Side note: "Bigger, faster, stronger" a.k.a., BFS, was a gym program at my high school.  It was mostly filled with meathead jocks who wanted to spend their hour of gym class in the weight room.  Mildred and Gertrude do not pump iron.  They are LADIES.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The chickies are 4 weeks old!

Happy 4 week birthday to my babies!

Gertie is the best at balancing on hands.  Isn't she lovely?


She's got an impressive wingspan now...


And here is my pretty little Millie...

This is her red carpet pose.


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Food, the ultimate incentive

Now that the chicks are 3 weeks old, we have set up a dowel for them to roost (perch) on. They really didn't like it at first and didn't know what to do. They'd just charge over it to get to the other side. Until I started bribing them with food!  Truly my babies.

I tricked them into standing on it by hand feeding them just out of their reach and now they're becoming pros! Surprisingly, Millie is better at it than Gertie.



I haven't seen my little fuzzy babies sleeping while roosting yet, but I keep peeking hoping to catch them.

Steady...

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Let's cuddle!

I think the girls are finally really getting used to people.  A little less skiddish and a little more cute happy chirps.

I also figured out they don't like to be touched on their backs, but they're totally okay if you rub their chest or the front of their neck.



They are getting bigger, but they're still so small.  The size difference between the two is becoming much more noticable.

Aww, they can still fit in one hand.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Mind your manners, Millie.


Millie gulps her water but remembers to wipe her mouth. And then pecks Gertie, lol.


Gertie is getting so big.  Her feathers are really coming in every where now...neck, back, etc. She's only going to be half baby fluff soon.

My babies are growing up too fast!

Aerial view of Gertie sleeping


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Social birdies

Our little chickies had an eventful weekend. They met my girlfriends and their beaus on Friday and then they met my parents on Saturday.

Every day they seem to get a little bigger and more feathers are starting to show. Sometimes Gertie looks like she has a mohawk.  A contortionist with a mohawk.

"I'm not upside down, you're upside down."









 
"I'm ready for take off!  Just kidding, I'm just pooing."
We still haven't been able to get Millie to fly, but she is starting to flap her wings.  Maybe soon!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Can I get some fries with that shake?

The chicks started doing something really cute lately...wiggling their little tail feathers, hehe.  Here's Millie with her booty shakin'.


And Little Miss Gertrude was curious of the camera today, which allowed me to get this adorable picture.

"Hello!"
Then she quickly lost interest.  Surprise.  And was more intrigued by her reflection in the tub.  Double surprise.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

A short pitstop at the Water Tower

Well, sort of.  We got Gertie to fly again; pretty well, I might add.  So then we (and by we, I mean my boo, because I am like overprotective momma bird) tried to get her to fly from the top of their automatic water dispenser thing-a-ma-bobbie.


She decided she needed a nap before going back home.

Both of them look a little bigger, but Millie is still the puny one.  She was extra spastic today, and not so photogenic.

They love to huddle in corners, always facing the wall.

But good ol' Gertie was just fine with the attention.  Her wings are almost all "revealed."  I don't know what the proper term is.  She has a pretty impressive wingspan too.  I'll try to capture that next time.



I'm not sure why it looks like I have the death grip on Gertie, but I swear I was not hurting her.  Her neck is actually about the size of my thumb--the fluff is deceiving.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

i vote for cute and cuddley

Happy election day!  I hope you all exercised your privilege to vote in this election.  :)

Now back to the chickies.  Gertie is getting bigger and her tail is becoming more prominent.  She almost looks....fat!  They both look kind of tubby when they are sitting.


"I'm not fat...I'm just fluffy!"
 Millie, not too much progress, but she's starting to get an itty bitty tail.
Mini badunkadunk.
And though she's still incredibly spastic, I managed to find...her sweet spot!  Just pet her neck and she will become so relaxed and poof, she's asleep.

Monday, November 5, 2012

1 week old! Millie the not-so-brave.

Zonked out!  Millie face first into bed.
Finally, one week old. I wish they could stay this age *forever*! Today, I came home to a nice surprise. Gertie has a tail! Hehe. See the little feathers?
Gertie sees her tail feathers and thinks, "That's new!"
So even though I know Millie is a late bloomer compared to Gertie, I thought maybe I could help nudge her into at least trying to fly.  Utter. Failure.  She wouldn't do it and she wouldn't even flap her wings.  She wouldn't even make the small little hop one inch off the ground.

I present to you: Millie in the feature film called, "I don't know how to use my wings yet.  Please let me down."

Sunday, November 4, 2012

6 days old = training wheels WINGS!

No matter how many times I look at the baby chicks, it never gets old. They're just an unlimited supply of adorable and they always make me smile. I LOVE them. Millie is still a nervous-Nelly, but she's starting to come around. Her wings are starting to look like how Gertie's looked on day 3. She's just a late bloomer. :)
Fluffy wings!

And big girl Gertie is training to fly...temporarily of course.   Adult chickens are terrible flyers as you know, but when they're young they are pretty good, probably because they weigh so little.

And the BEST part of the day was getting Gertie to perch on my hand without squirming and her being brave enough to jump off and fly back home.  This literally made me giddy.



P.S. - Don't mind the poop, lol.  They are poop machines and I feel like their production schedule is growing exponentially.  Babies.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

5 days old...and they're sleeping again

Millie tries to crawl under Gertie.  Gertie is so nonchalant.
Just like all babies, all they ever seem to do is eat, sleep, and poop. We have been trying to hold them more with hopes that if they get used to it, they won't be so scared of people in general. It's hard though since they're little and to them we seem sooooo huge and scary. Both of them are really starting to show their wings now! And I have no idea why but the wings make them look even more adorable. We will need to start covering their house because soon they will be able to fly!
Their wings are coming!
And it's sleepy time again.

Friday, November 2, 2012

4 days old and ready to grow up



The girls seem to be having a serious conversation.
The girls are starting to get their wings and figuring out how to use them. Gertie is definitely maturing faster and is more adventurous. She tries to fly every once in a while. I caught part of it in this video.

Millie is such a scaredy cat and frequently chirps loudly and in a panicky fashion. Her wings are just starting to show today, but she hasn't tried to fly yet. However, she does like to bother Gertie at all times. Millie likes to eat Gertie's food even though there's plenty of food all over the place. And when Gertie tries to sleep, Millie tries to snuggle with her, which annoys Gertie a lot. But it's so cute to watch them. :)

Thursday, November 1, 2012

3 days old

It's hard to believe it but though Millie and Gertie are only 3 days old, they have grown so much!  They're both starting to get feathers on their wings, so they keep preening.  Soon they won't have that cute little baby fluff we love so much.

I've had to clean Gertie quite a bit the last couple of days (pasting - it's gross, google it if you want), and when I take her out of their "home," Millie starts chirping like crazy.  She's a bit protective, I guess.

Gertie is much calmer and okay with people holding her, which is probably a product of me having to hold her more to clean.  Millie is still kind of jumpy if she hasn't been around people for awhile.  But both calm down and fall asleep sooooo fast if you hold them for a few seconds.  It's really adorable.  We tried to capture it on video for you...

P.S. - Last night, I checked on them about a dozen times to make sure they were still breathing.  :)