Baby Chicks #4
Hi, this is Unpretending for Unpretending’s Substack.
Have you ever wondered why our System’s second name is Spontaneous? That is because many within our System get spontaneous ideas in our head then carry them out. In today’s episode, carry is in the literal sense as we carry the chicks coop outside.
We decided we would take the coop outside onto the grass for the chicks to begin to get to know a new environment. Having had daily rain since getting the ‘girls’ we took the chance on a warm and sunny morning, Miss 6 and I popped the chicks into a cardboard box and heaved the coop out the back.
The chicks were cautious about their strange surroundings, immediately running into their A-frame covered apartment, perching upon the box inside.
Miss 6, Nala, and I sat back, watching and waiting for the chickens to venture out in wide outdoors.
We watched and waited…
Watched and waited.
Finally, after putting Nala back inside the house, Miss 6 and some young people within me began to think they’d never come out, so we decided to give them a helping hand by giving a gentle push onto the grass and removed their escape.
Sometimes in life, chicks, kids, and even adults, need a helping hand to be shown, despite their fear- they can do it!
Here is the video which includes the conversations between Miss 6 and Unpretending. Throughout the video we discover that Kayla, our grey chick has a crocked jaw and there is conversation about what to do.
We’ve used Unpretending in the transcript but if you listen carefully, you’ll hear several of us in our System. The transcript with descriptions is below.
The chicks are in the sun on a patch of grass, Jean is hiding near the water container with her back to us, Cheepy is pecking at the ground, Kayla is standing in the food eating as quickly as she can, and Sage is curious as usual, gazes around her surroundings.
Jeans walks tentatively across the grass as Miss 6 places a single blade through the open door of the coop. Startled, Sage thinks to herself, “I’m outer here!” and jumps back to the entrance of the A-frame.
Unpretending: Look she says, “Ooh I can’t get in there.” That’s because I blocked it off.
Sage turns, heading back to the container of chick starter with the other girls.
Unpretending: It’s funny as they get older, they get a little scrawny.
Chicks: Cheeping, eat their food and Sage pecks at a blade of grass growing near the container. In the background, another type of bird called Silver Eye, can be heard calling loudly to one another as they fly about the olive tree a few meters away (about 10ft).
Unpretending: I wish I could get (a photo of) those little finches or whatever they are (Silver eyes), squealing birds.
Chicks: Cheeping to each other and pecking away hungrily at their food.
Sage decides there is no room for her at the feed container so pushes her way through, past Jean, and stares in surprise. The food container has completely disappeared. Looking about, she decides to jump onto the wire of the open door to see if the food container has moved over there.
Unpretending: (Chuckling) I put that plastic container out, opsie-daisys, careful! Careful.
Sage is finding is difficult to balance on the thin wire, so Unpretending puts her hand close to her so she doesn’t fall out of the coop. Sage flaps her little wings widely as she regains her balance, turns around and see the food!
“Hmm, how did it get there?” she thinks to herself.
Miss 6: Can I hold one?
Unpretending: Not outside, just in case the cat, or a big bird is watching and just waiting for us to turn our heads, and they’d like to take them for their dinner.
Chicks: Cheeping
Jean, Kayla, and Cheepy continue to eat as Sage sways back and forth looking around her, deciding what to do next. Unpretending removes her hand.
Unpretending: Are you learning to balance Sage?
Cheepy has turned from the food and is pecking at the pine shavings on the ground. Sage decides that’s where she wants to be and flutters down to the ground to join Cheepy.
Unpretending, unaware of Sage’s triumph, watches Jean and notices pink skin near Jean’s growing feathers. Unpretending sticks her hand into the coop to investigate.
Unpretending: Jean looks funny as her big wings, her big feathers come in, you can see her skin.
Jean, not liking to be poked, steps off the food container and stumbles pasts the others to the back of the coop for safety. Sage turns to see the large hand and declares, “Hey, what’s the big deal?” Unpretending removes her hand and Sage walks past the open door to the back of the coop to check if Jean is okay.
“You alright Jean?” she cheeps. Jeans looks at Sage and say’s,
“I’m okay, thanks.”
Miss 6: Can I pat?
Unpretending: Um you can, just very gently.
Miss 6 gently streches out her arm, a pink scrunchie is wraped around her wrist as a bracelet, she reaches Cheepy with her little pinkie. Miss 6, touches Cheepy ever so lightly feeling the soft downy feathers. Cheepy is undisturbed, Miss 6 takes her hand away and says in a knowing tone…,
Miss 6: Mm.
Unpretending: Let me move my legs out of the way. There.
Kalya is the only chick remaining at the feed, perched on the edge still eating ravenously.
Unpretending: We’ve noticed Sage, no, Kayla, the little grey one, her mouth is crooked.
Miss 6 arms stretches out once again pointing to Kalya.
Miss 6: Oh, maybe that’s why she pecks so hard.
The chicks continue to peck around and explore as Unpretending and Miss 6 talk together.
Unpretending: Could be. I know some chicken breeders, they trim off their little beak so they can’t peck each other. But I think that’s when they’re all in too much…, and they don’t have enough room. Like in little cage pens. (Too many chooks living in the same pen). * Note.
Miss 6: Also Kalya, mostly I see her, with like (Miss 6 points) on that side of her feet, I see a little bit of redness.
Unpretending: Yeah, her legs are going black because she’s going to be a black chicken I think. Can you see the black on her shoulders? That dark grey.
Miss 6: Yeah
Unpretending: Her grown-up feathers are coming in, see.
Miss 6: I like Cheepy.
Miss 6, reaches over and pats Sage, who walks away, Unpretending laughs as Sage moves and they see Cheepy, still pecking at the ground
Unpretending: Cheepy’s tail is coming in.
Miss 6: It’s cute.
Unpretending: They get big, so big (so fast, see *note).
Chicks: Cheeping.
Miss 6 gently pats Cheepy who doesn’t seem to mind. She then tries to pat Kayla but Kayla moves her head as if to say,
“Not now, I’m busy eating.” Miss 6, obviously speaks Chicken, because she immediately withdraws her hand, waits a moment then pats a compliant Cheepy.
Miss 6: They’re growing so fast.
Unpretending: We’ve only had them for what…?
Miss 6: 10 days maybe (she was right).
Unpretending: Yeah, a week and a half, that’s about 10 days. When did we get them? We got them the Saturday before Christmas and today’s Wednesday after Christmas. Maybe 12 days?
Unpretending: (Answering from inside conversations) Yeah, I’m a bit concerned about Sage’s (Kayla’s) mouth. Look at that, like it kind of looks like she’s got a broken little jaw. I wonder what that…, yeah. I never noticed that before. I hope she can eat and drink, well she seems to be able to eat properly.
Miss 6: And drink when I see her drinking.
Kayla, who must speak human, hears Unpretending and Miss 6 and begins shaking her head trying to get her lower jaw back into place.
Unpretending: It’s a bit weird, I never noticed that before.
Miss 6: Me too.
Unpretending: I wonder if it’s because her little beak has grown so long.
Miss 6: And I also don’t know why she shakes her head.
Unpretending: Well, she’s…, I think it’s uncomfortable.
Kayla is still listening and shakes her head again to confirm it’s very uncomfortable for her.
Miss 6: Yeah
Unpretending: It’s a bit weird.
Miss 6 and Unpretending put their hand over their bottom jaw and pretend to be Kayla talking with a crooked jaw. Sage notices the camera is up close and as Unpretending moves, Sage steps through the food, knocking Kayla off balance, who flaps and calls out, “Hey! I was eating here!”
Miss 6: She’ll have to do this.
Unpretending: Yeah she’s got to talk like this.
As Kayla balances on the other edge of the food container, Miss 6 and Unpretending continue talking about her.
Miss 6: I don’t see her cheeping, much.
Unpretending: No, she’s got a pretty strong upper beak. Maybe her jaws broken.
Miss 6, gently stretches out hand to pat Kayla, who jumps back to the entrance of the A-Frame.
Unpretending: She wants to get in there.
Miss 6: (Laughs) She just flapped so hard.
Unpretending: I’m (says a word that sounds like very and worried at the same time) about that, I might google and work out what’s wrong with her jaw.
Kayla has moved to the water container and begins to drink, Jean is beside her, Sage close behind and Cheepy has gone back to pecking the ground near the pine shavings again.
Unpretending: Oh good, she’s drinking alright. I don’t know why they're going around the back to drink.
Miss 6: Maybe because over there you can’t really drink, because there’s too many rocks (the stones in the water).
Unpretending: Too many rocks do you reckon? Maybe it’s not on a level ground.
The chicks begin to look tired; we hear in the background our cat Kissa, who’s bell is tingling as he scratches himself in the shade.
Unpretending: It almost looks like it’s a cleft pallet type thing. Well, she’s growing, she seems to be able to drink and eat properly.
Miss 6 hands a blade of glass towards Cheepy.
Miss 6: Hey cheep
Unpretending: Surely we would have noticed it before, I might go through some of the videos and see.
Miss 6: I’m just putting grass near their beaks so…,
Unpretending interrupts and laughs at Kayla and Sage who are searching for a way back inside the A frame cover.
Unpretending: They want to go back inside, alright we’ll put them back in the box and take this hutch back inside and let them sleep. Bye-bye chicky’s.
That was the end of the video. Thank you for coming to our Substack. Thank you for subscribing and sharing our contact.
* Note: When there is more than one member of our System fronting or very close, we sometimes have trouble getting our words out.