ART LESSON

Here's some of the art that was on display at the Northeast Poultry Congress in Springfield MA USA.

 I don't recall the titles,

but the artist is Mother Nature.

Her work was elegant, 

solid, 

delicate, 

sweet.

 That sweet one really took my breath away.
   

I visited her a few times during the day and did some sketches to get to know her better.

 How did Mother Nature come up with these designs?  

And what is it like to wake up every morning in this outfit?

This fella is proudly owned by a sweet little girl.

I hope he didn't hear people calling him "Devil Boy".  

This lady scratched in the sawdust as gracefully as a ballerina.

To look at her, one can easily make the link between chicken and dinosaur.

Were dinosaurs graceful?

 And did their souls shine this brightly in their eyes?

This cochin hen was just one voluptuous butt with a head on top.  

She seemed to have a healthy self-image.  Good girl.

Now here's an example of form and pattern explosively combined.

and lovely eyes as punctuation.

I studied eyes.

Could she see me?

Yes, there is a chicken in there.

This prizewinner's eyes have "happy" and "healthy" written all over them.

 All through the day, chickens glanced upward.  I couldn't figure out what they were looking at.  Perhaps the fluorescent lights were flickering? 
  
Eventually I saw what they saw... Sparrows flitting around high up in the rafters of the arena.  All of the chickens were aware of them; most of us humans were not.

As the day drew to a close, some birds settled right down.  


But others...... 
well, turn up your sound for this little video clip.

PLUCKED! - Fern

Fern.
She's an Ameraucana. Puffy cheek-feathers, little pea-comb.
She and Daisy were born this spring.  
Daisy started laying eggs four months ago, but Fern
has shown no sign of ever laying any stupid ol' eggs, 
thank-you-very-much.


Fern's just too busy to grow up.

She's always on her toes.


Fern is quick to warn the flock of danger, 
using the universal chicken-alarm that is reserved for hawk sightings, foxes and other very scary things:

She's a vigilant little chicken, on guard for any threat.

Yep, always on the lookout for danger.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 

Fern's at the very bottom of the pecking order. 
Normally you'd expect a hen in that position to be timid and to keep out of everyone's way.


But Fern -- she breaks all the rules of chicken-etiquette.


...like:      Never charge full-speed at your superiors.

This always results in a good plucking.


Also:

Never fly over the dog.



She's had some close calls with that one.


And this--- 
If you're unfamiliar with chicken-etiquette, this may look like a cute little dance.
But let me tell you.

This is Fern challenging Pigeon, the TOP CHICKEN, to a duel. 
This is so totally rude.   I mean you just don't do this if you want to live.
But Pigeon's not offended. She's amused. 
Pigeon adores Fern.

So she gives her a swift little tail-plucking and sends her on her way..

Here Fern's coming back for more.
.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  


With all this plucking going on, I've managed to collect some nice samples of her plumage billowing around the yard:

And here's how those feathers looked when they were still attached to Fern:

Another endearing little visual:

Fern's butt-feathers are in the shape of a heart.
.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

I let the girls out for some free-range time every day.
And every day Fern sprints from the forsythia to the bird feeder and back again - over and over and over.
It's an adorable sight. 
Took me a while to see exactly what she is doing:

She's chasing birds.


Chickadees, Nuthatches... 

What is going through her tiny little chicken-head?
Is she racing them?
Does she think she's a chickadee?

She's a free-wheelin' little mystery, Fern.


And Pigeon is a mystery to me too --
that she understands Fern's playful taunting.
Her sensitivity to all the individuals in her flock is uncanny.


....next post: PIGEON: Blind Wisdom