Four Varieties

Every day my chicks get a little bit bigger and the chicken run looks a little bit smaller.  I have four varieties in there now including my eldest Buff Orpington (largest, fluffiest, calmer, maternal), Americaunas (smallest, easy going), Polish (craziest feathers, small but not as small as the Americaunas, prone to panic), and Cuckoo Marans (larger, assertive, also prone to panic).  Each chicken is different and all are entertaining.  They eat a lot and are growing fast. Last night my normally calm Buff Orpington was sounding her alarm over and over and over.  I went out there and asked her what was wrong.  I saw that my pollinator nest had fallen out of the crabapple tree and was lying in the grass, not moving, close to the chicken run.  No foxes or cats or squirrels or predators were visible.  I think she was upset by the nest that had fallen.  I talked to her, "Chillax.  Everything is okay," but she kept it up until the sun went down.  And in the morning she sounded the alarm again in the dawn's early light.  I'm sure she has either quit squawking, decided the nest was not a danger, or her voice box has given up.