Greasy Fast

In Rocky 2, there are a few scenes where Micky, in his attempt to turn Rocky into a 'greasy fast 200 pound Italian tank', has Rocky chasing a chicken in an alley to work on his foot quickness.  At the time, I really didn't understand that scene...but now, as a chicken owner, it's a hitting a little close to home.

Since moving them outside a few weeks ago, the chicks(almost chickens) seem pretty happy.  They like the chicken tractor, and after a few nights of sleeping on the ground, they figured out it was warmer and dryer up in the coop.  This past week, they have even started using the roosting bar as they sleep.  It's all very cute.

Now that we have them used to the outdoors, we have given them a few doses of the outside, opening the door to the tractor to give them free run of the back yard.  There were some initial moments of fear when they spread their wings and practiced some flying, but, even now they were limited to about 18-inches off the ground, for maybe 4 or 5 feet.  We make sure an adult is outside with them at all times, as much to protect my garden from them, as to protect them from anything else.

We are working on getting them to head back into the tractor on their own, using the sound of a jar full of cracked corn to get the correct Pavlovian response.  It's not always successful though, and because they are chickens, and not always very smart, at least one of them usually has a hard time finding the door, and needs to be 'helped'. 

This is when I have sympathy for Rocky.  Even with somewhere between 1 and 3 girls helping me out, getting a chicken to go where you want it, or trying to actually pick it up, is not easy.  They are pretty quick, with just enough of a hop to make guessing which direction they are going difficult.