Coconut and Fig are both Plum’s chicks. We got them at 2 weeks old and they were the cutest chicks ever, besides my other chickens of course. From early on we knew that they were close I mean how could they not be? That is why if one is a boy the other will be crushed. They lived in a brooder with their mom because we were told not to separate them or she would forget they were her babies. So they stayed together. But we noticed some of her behaviors were rubbing off on them. Like her anger towards us, which was due to her other life, and her reluctance to eat anything we touched. So after they were together for 3 weeks we separated them. It wasn’t my first choice but I wanted them to live their own lives, Plum was a year old she needed to be out eating grass and with other chickens.
Separation
When we went to separate them it was hard at first, they were so loving to their mom and we kind of had to rip of the bandaid. Integration was the hardest especially since she was all alone and we had three chickens, but she made it through and we could see she was already changing. She was more accepting of humans, she loved snacks, and even got along with Licorice one of her best friends. We quickly realized that we had made the right choice. Coconut and Fig are both bantam Cochins like their mother but they have very different coloring and different personalities as well.
Coconut
Coconut is the nicer of the two. She is cautious but unlike her sibling calmer. She is lighter as well, her feathers white and light brown only a little black. Coconut is smaller, her feet paler, she is less food driven then fig but still loves pear, her favorite snack.
Fig
She is the one we are worried about being a boy although she has a similar temperament she is quicker and more aggressive. She loves food and her favorite snack is papaya or watermelon. She is light white in very few places, and mostly black especially on her tail that sticks out instead of curving. Fig tries to be friends with everyone and ends up getting pecked most times.
Integration
They are now with the big birds, and because they are still so small we waited as long as we could. Our brooder was in our shed and in the morning we would open the shed door. They preferred to stay in the shed though, with my dad. He works in there and so they like to sit on his lap, head, shoulders, or on his desk. They also pooped everywhere! But when I went to check on them they were always next to him, they loved him more then any human and still like to greet him most days. They still don’t like to be picked up, unlike our other chickens, but that’s ok with me, I think that if they are happy and I gave them a good home, then that’s all that matters.
Hadley's Hues 