Further adventures of Owl Chicken (and friends)

Owl leads a crew of Barnevelders; all photos courtesy of my husband.

Recently my husband walked some trails and found he had a pal, namely Owl Chicken. She does like to follow us around outdoors, and it was an adorable trait to add to her history, which months ago was fraught with not the best kind of adventure.

Owl on her own, taking in the landscape.

Owl and Nadia are our two most brave hens, weathering rain and wind and loving it! Fortunately all the chickies are becoming used to blustery days, as we get some of those here on the North Coast. But trail walking was a new trick, and Owl took to it in her usual style, sticking close to my husband until she felt comfortable wandering ahead, then returning to where he waited.

Owl crosses the bridge!

The part she DID NOT like was crossing the creek; she eventually did so, bless her, and I guess that point of courage stuck with her, because a few days later she again joined my husband, this time convincing some of her sisters to join the fun!

These chickens are extremely entertaining, whether it's observing them up close, from afar, or heralding their desires to explore their realm, which my hubby and I joke that to them, they are the only chickens on the planet, if they could wrap their wee brains around such a sphere. We'll spot them from the house, turn around, and they've moved on as though their flying ability is more like teleportation.

What pleases us so is how adaptable they've become in their nearly nine shorts months; dealing with wind was NOT their idea of fun, but now they strut around, their feathers blowing, truly claiming their mantles of Humboldt Hens with pride.

While often they are chirpy, or rather purring like Tribbles, on this outing they were quiet, absorbing this new terrain. And there was PLENTY to see; ferns growing, tall trees that were probably out of their lines of sight, and so much SCRUB, lol. At the end, Owl was separated from her posse, and it's hard to spot her in the photo below.

When they approached the table bridge, as my husband calls it, NONE of them would cross it. I had a good laugh at that as these photos were sent, my husband enjoying his role of photojournalist in addition to trail guide.

Um, no, I can imagine they clucked to one another....

These aren't your average backyard hens; they rarely spend time in the coop, other than the laying of eggs. Yeah, it means avoiding chicken poo most times one steps outside, but the freedom they enjoy is worth it, for how fun it is tracking their movements, or losing them, then again finding them pecking, pecking, pecking. Or preening in the sun, bathing in the dust, or resting for brief periods, as they do a lot of walking. Watching them run is hilarious; I still think to myself, "Why don't you use your arms?" as they strut and waddle as quickly as their legs allow.

Now they're taking the lead!

Then I want to flick myself on the ear; they don't HAVE arms, LOLOL. Yet for how quickly they run, I keep expecting them to sprout arms to get them where they want to go even faster.

(The day any of our hens grow arms, I'll be sure to let you know.)

Upon reaching the second of two bridges, finally they felt comfortable getting across. Cami Chicken was waiting for them on the other side; she'd been clucking/crying for her sisters, but how to explain to a hen, "Well, we're in the middle of a trail, and we'll be back as soon as we can." It's not like chickens have phones tucked under those wings.

Cami on the other side, waiting patiently....

All were happy upon being reunited. And I bet the next time my better half goes trail walking, some assortment of hens will follow him, peck, peck, pecking as they go.