Chicks - Grow With Me - The 5th month

We made it back from Japan!
We got back pretty late in the evening so we couldn't see the roosters till the next morning.
It was pleasant to hear them crow early in the morning again. I couldn't wait to see them.

They had grown! I expected this as they were growing so fast in the past few months. 
I wasn't sure if they remembered us, but they seemed excited. I suspect it is because they have "matured" since we left. Both of the roosters did a "wing dance" for us. They were courting us! They were still young roosters and unsure of what they should do, so nearly everyone got a wing dance that day.  It was funny to see that Penguin had grown up and had developed a beard!

Look how long his hackle feathers are. He really has a good mullet going now.

It seems that all that napping that Penguin was doing before was to conserve his energy, he's now taken a great interest in the ladies and spends the majority of the time chasing them. Interestingly, he shows interest in the other araucanas only, none of the other chickens. Maybe they are too big for him, or he realises that they are all the same breed.




Looks like the ladies were having none of it. All running away from him.
Silly fellow, he does the wing dance after chasing them. He's supposed to do that before trying to mate with them.

His newfound interest in the ladies means that he no longer wants to sit on my lap during the day. In the evenings it is a different story though. He still likes a cuddle before bedtime

Cuddles with mummy, because it is cold at night and it's warm when I get cuddles

Buffy, the little one has gotten even more fluffy. His short legs mean that he can't jump onto any of the females. His favourite pastime is to be picked up by us and relax, yup stretch that leg out sir


And he did find an alternative to the hens...
Not sure if that is a good thing. It's become a bit of an obsession with him now.

So I was happy, the roosters still love us and it was getting to winter here so they still want their cuddles at night. Not complaining, these roosters have so much personality they are amazing to have around. Stay tuned for the last in the series and the 6th month. This is where they are fully mature and you can't really call them chicks any longer.

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