(no subject)

[pacificpikachu]

About two years ago, I wrote a light photo-essay on chickens and why I love them so much. I realize that some of you weren't friends with me at that time or may have missed it, so I wanted to post it again:

http://pacificpikachu.livejournal.com/456629.html

I hope that many of you will read it if you haven't already, as I think it's pretty informative and gives you an idea of why I'm so obsessed with chickens. :D

Comments

[olesvenson.livejournal.com]

Wow, I didn't know there was so much to know about chickens. I never realized they had such a complex system of communication!

After reading, I realized I had a few pictures of chickens from a snake "farm" and petting zoo I went to last year that I thought you might enjoy. While I was there outside it started to rain and the chickens and I all ran under the overhang of a roof, and I kept thinking yikes, I hope one or another of those roosters doesn't take offense to my being so close, but the whole flock was quite friendly, really.

I love this one, with this mama and her chicks:


And this fellow was just perched on that fence like that, all happy and watching everything that was going on:


You're certainly welcome to keep them and use them any way you'd like!

[calambmity.livejournal.com]

Actually your post has made me think a lot about chickens.
I never realized that there were so many varieties and colors and feathers.
Some of these chickens are just gorgeous and I would have never thought they were chickens at all.

I'll admit though that I might have some trepidation approaching a chicken in real life.
When I was younger I had some bad experiences with chickens.
I used to have to walk home everyday from school in elementary. Mind you, I had a rolling backpack (which I thought was uber cool - but those were actually a social faux pas) and when I first started walking home it was not that bad it took me about 20 - 25 minutes or even 30 if I was going at a slow pace but I didn't mind. What did bother me was...the chickens (I'm sure you already guessed)

On my route home there was a tall fence that had all of these GIANT trees or whatever behind it and banana trees too but it was pretty dense and it got dark in that area. The fence was near the local high school and it was kind of around a shady looking neighborhood. Every so often I would hear rustling in the bushes and trees and I thought someone was following me to kidnap me or pull up with the creepy no window van. So imagine my surprise when I saw some chickens. I kind of stood there on the sidewalk looking at them wondering where they came from. I thought they were kind of cute...until they chased me.

I was so scared.

I ran all the way home.....with a rolling backpack.

When I had to do the route each day it got even worse. Sometimes there was even a really large chicken that would pop out, dark coloring with it's feathers (I dunno if it was male or female) and it would stick its head outside of the holes in the fence and swivel it around to stare at me. I would be on the look out for holes and bends in the fence that signaled where they dug out and I even started walking closer to the road. I always felt like they were going to peck at my feet. It wasn't until I found a high school walking buddy (she was so nice to walk with a kid in elementary school) that I began to feel at ease. I made her walk closer to fence edge of the sidewalk xD HAHA I don't think she ever knew why I made her do that.

But I never really got over what happened with me and the chickens.

To this day some chickens still make me startled. However, the information and photos you posted are really rad. eeing chickens in this light is new to me and probably the rest of the world. How cool, thanks for sharing. :3

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it got you thinking about chickens! They are really interesting and amazing animals, and there's definitely a huge variety, both in looks and in personality. They're a rich species with their own culture and language and complex behavior, so even though I've had them for fifteen years now, I still learn new things from them and about them all the time. Whenever I feel stressed, I can go out and sit with them and that by itself is usually enough to erase my stress.

Awww! I think a lot of people have had trouble with roosters. Roosters can be ornery at times, but it's just because they're protecting their flock. Also, if chickens are really friendly and are used to receiving food from people, they might chase someone for that, too.

If you met some of my chickens, I think it would change your mind! I have mostly tiny chickens, and they're friendly and used to people, so they make great company. :D

(I'm actually going to go sit with them now, haha.)