Life goes on...

Sadly, I went outside to do chores two days ago and found that Christmas had transitioned to the Great Farm in the Sky. She was the happiest of the happy turkeys, and not many of her brethren live to the ripe old age of almost three. Since the sight of the empty chalet was breaking my heart on a continual basis, Gene agreed to let me get two new turkeys. Within five minutes of his proclamation, I was headed to the feed store. I decided to get Royal Palm turkeys this time around, for a more ornamental, smaller bird. After 20 minutes of watching the little chicks bustling around their pen, I picked two which I hope are male and female. King Kamehameha and Pele are now happily ensconced in the garage brooding box. They're in that horribly awkward phase where their necks are too long and they have glittering reptilian eyes, but I think they're adorable.

In other chick news, the three broody mamas are all proving to be excellent mothers.
We now have a total of 19 chicks happily cavorting around the yard, snapping at butterflies and slurping down worms. Gene had to install more roosting bars in the chicken coop in anticipation of the additional feathered butts, and we also had to move the newest chickens out of the garage and into the big coop. The transition went great, with the exception of the Blue Polish hen, whom I've creatively dubbed Blue Mama. Blue Mama has a huge ornamental poof of feathers on her head that apparently inhibits her eyesight. Every night I've had to go on the Blue Mama Scavenger Hunt to see where she decided to bed down for the night. I'm thinking she can't see well enough to find her way back to the coop. So far I've been lucky in that she doesn't stray too far and I can usually find her within 30 minutes. I think I'm going to have to give her a feather cut, or gather them up on top of her head with one of those ridiculous baby bows.

Speaking of babies, Harvey and Cinnabun accelerated their long-anticipated play date when Harvey managed to free her from her cage. I walked outside to find Harvey happily living up to his Bunny Ranch reputation, and ever since then they've been inseparable. Watching them cuddle is the cutest thing ever, since they're both so huge. They even had a Lady & the Tramp moment tonight when they shared a Wheat Thin. Needless to say, in about 28 days, Gene's going to be a grandpa.