I {heart} the Internet

So I had always figured that I'd invented the term "proto-crowing," well, seeing as how I came up with it all by myself.

But for some reason (avoiding grading probably), I decided tonight to Google the term. First surprise: my post from this morning was already catalogued in Google! Second and bigger surprise: someone else has already used the term online (2006): http://cluck.dreamhosters.com/?p=86 Interesting, too, that Cluck described it in the same terms: "squeaky, scratchy . . ."

So does this make me a plagiarist? Bahahahahahahahaha! Both parts of my sabbatical project come together! And on the same day that I resubmitted my paperwork!

This must be a sign . . .

The Defeat of Denial

Subtle signs were there: the lengthening legs, the increasing amount of white in the feathers, the pitch of the tail, the time Sami jumped Baby in a mating stance (okay, that one's not so subtle). Since Sami's only a couple of months old, I figured I had at least another good month and a half of living in denial (until the crowing would start).

But this morning, among Esme's scratchy announcement, Fleck's high-volume blast, Daisy's in-between call, and Sleepy's weird hen-crow, there it was, unmistakable: Sami was proto-crowing (my term for the sound baby roos make when first learning to crow).

Proto-crowing is indescribable--a hilarious scratch-squeak that you have to laugh at. I tried to get Sami on video with my new camera phone, but he--yes, I said "he"!-- wouldn't cooperate until the moment I shut it off. Well, there will be other opportunities . . . lots of opportunities. . . .

Better Blogger?

Well, I got out there today and took some more pics, but they mostly turned out crappy. The one exception, this is me and Daisy, Sami's dad, squinting into the sun. Not a bad pic when you consider that I took it while holding the camera. Oh, and there's a blurry pic of Sami flapping her wings:





Here are some photos from 02 Nov., Sami's 7-week birthday. (Incidentally, Baby laid her first post-Sami egg on the 1st, and she's been cranking them out every since.) You can see that Sami is rapidly catching up to Baby in size. . . .

Bad Blogger

Well, October flew right by--I'm way behind on posting! In fact, I'm having a heck of a time even remembering how to do this. But here we go: the month in quick review! Here are some October shots:

By far my fave, this one is from 12 October, almost a month ago.



Here are some nice family pics from 05 October:

Sami at Two Weeks

Has it really been only two weeks? It seems like Sami has always been here. She's quite self-possessed and knows what she wants--especially if what she wants is fresh corn or worms.

In the past couple of days, she's been out twice with Uncle Esme, who seems to be her favorite relative (well, they're not really related, but who's checking?). Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the two together yet, but here are a few to mark the passage of time:


Nice feather shot. See how quickly her tail is coming in?


Still a mama's girl.


Daisy showing off what a stud he is.

Yes on 2, of course

Join us on Facebook | Get web badges

Sami Perches

Up until now, Baby and Sami have been on the bottom of the cage, but tonight they're up on the perch. Another milestone for Sami! (No pics 'cause it's bed time for chickens.)

Sami at One Week

These photos were taken Sunday, 21 September, exactly a week after Sami hatched. You can really see how much a chick changes in a week: Freshly hatched, she was just chick fluff. After a week, wing and tail feathers are already coming in.






Here's Sami with her family: dad Daisy on the right and mom Baby on the left. (Yeah, it's confusing.)

Sami's First Day

Except for her mother (who was a gift from my landlady), Sami is my first non-feral chick. She is, in fact, my first intentional chick. She hatched on 14 September 2008, around noon.

Why Chicken Whisper?

Well, I was gonna do my sabbatical project, in part, by writing about chickens. The sabbatical got cancelled, but the desire to write about chickens did not.

I don't want to write a lot about chickens--just enough to remind me of why I had the idea in the first place.

And I'm hoping this blog will give me a reason to do so. (Meanwhile, a dozen [ha! no pun intended!] other tasks are calling. . . .)