New Chicks and Vertical Leaps

Our two Golden Phoenix hens - oh, let's call them Cagney & Lacey - both went broody within a week of each other, and by combined effort hatched three fuzzy peepers about three weeks ago. Ever since, both have claimed ALL three chicks, and I've gotta say from the looks of it, co-parenting rocks.

Twice the vigilance, twice the defensive power against curious geese and chickens (these girls have SPURS), twice the teaching opportunities. Oh, and twice the effort I don't have to put into raising a new batch of peepers.

The new chicks are learning the ropes fast, and the moms introduced them to many chicken pleasures quickly, including the roost.

Now let's pull back a few feet, and show you how high that roost is...

Yeah, the human mama-hen about had a cow when she saw them all up there!

The chicks maneuver quite well, actually. They climb up the ramp (which you can't see in the pic), then walk over the middle support beam that holds the perches, right on up to the top perch. If they want down in a hurry, they simply jump - their light weight and the deep sawdust litter below makes an easy landing. If they want to take their time, they'll jump from perch to perch. Their vertical leap is astounding. Is there a Chicken NBA?