chicken little

kyle talked my parents into getting chickens last spring. after much resistance they finally gave in and purchased ten chicks. i will admit they were pretty adorable as they ran around in the grass chirping away. we made bets about when the first eggs would be laid. kyle must have coaxed them because he was within a day from the date the first egg was discovered.

already the chicks have created quite the entertainment. one remarkably survived being bitten by a visiting dog and is now referred to as gimp. gimp enjoys being hand fed, hobbling around on one leg, and occasionally being carried from place to place by maggie, the dog of the house. 

although the hens seem to enjoy being near people, they run when approached. i figured a handful of seed would get them close. as i bent over and held out my hand, a few began pecking at the food and slowly a crowd formed.  one black and white hen flew straight for my shoulders landing on my back. i was okay with them eating out of my hand, but not with one on my back! kyle seemed to take his time helping get the hen off as he was laughing pretty hard. we were still laughing about the strange incident when the same hen took off flying straight for my head. don't worry i karate chopped her away - okay, i let out a yelp and jumped behind kyle and she gave up. strangely unnerving. i felt like the bad guys in home alone when the pigeons swarm them after kevin covers them in tar and bird seed. yes, it was nearly that dramatic. i'm actually thankful i don't have a picture of the episode! but here is one of kyle with a hen. with that face, i'm pretty sure he coaxed her to attack me.