Safe for Now

It's the chickens' first Thanksgiving. No, we didn't take any pictures, but actually it doesn't get good for the chickens until tomorrow. All of the trimmings, parings, clippings and leavings from tonight's dinner went into the chicken bucket, which will get taken down in the morning to tempt them out of the coop to get some exercise. They love squash entrails, beet tops, cheese and lettuce. They're not so hot on celery. The stuff they don't eat they stomp into the dirt and poop on. Once we've fenced in the other side of the chickens' yard, we'll scatter grass and amaranth seeds and let them sprout for a while in the well-fertilized dirt while the chickens dig up the other side.

The chickens at this stage aren't even Cornish game-hen sized. They don't weight quite a pound yet, but they're growing constantly. Other people have told us that they're going to become flight risks, but I'm skeptical. They were almost flying for a couple of weeks, but that seems to have gone by the wayside.

So, for now, the chickens are giving thanks that we had salmon this year. Next year, one of them may not be so lucky.