Sid the Sultan and Sir Cotton

~Sultan~: Originally was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", "authority" and "power".
Sid Vicious, our Golden-Laced, Bearded Polish is the Sultan Roo of Laughing Orca Ranch Coop.
~Minion~: A term used for favorites or protégés, especially those of a monarch or prince. Although of subordinate rank to his patron, a minion is likely to be of noble birth, and is more of a companion and confidant to him than a servant or bodyguard. Mr. Cotton aka Sir Cotton is Sid's subordinate, but because of his Japanese Silky nobility has become Sultan Sid's coop companion and confidant.
As Sultan Sid Vicious sits proudly on his throne, Sir Cotton sits faithfully beside.

"Uh, sir....wake up sir. The paparazzi are still taking PR photos. Sir? Sir!"

As the Coop Turns~Chick Integration~Final Episode

"Hello, Barred Rock Betty here. We left off, at the end of the last episode of As The Coop Turns, wandering if the New Chicks in the Coop would be fully accepted by the Big Girls and could finally sleep soundly within the henhouse, unfettered by protective cages. And here's what happened"
Daytime Chick Intregation went cluckingly well. But night time was a little more worrisome to Ranch Mama because once she shut the door on the coop and went to be in her cozy bed, she would have no clue how the hens and new chicks were getting along, nor could she do anything to rescue them if things went awry.

So, Ranch Mama placed a small rodent cage with all 4 chicks, inside the henhouse. And used this for the first two nights so the hens would get used to seeing the chicks inside their house.
Just want to introduce you to Ranch Mama's most favorite chicken (Hey I though I was her favorite?). Annie is an Ameracauna. She lays pretty blue eggs. Annie was the one chick that, early on, jumped out of her brooder, and looked to have injured herself and seemed on the brink of death. She didn't grow as fast as the other chickens and is now much smaller than most of them. But she's Ranch Mama's girl and is always happy to see her and is as gentle as a kitten. The spot on top of the feeder is her favorite roosting spot. She has claimed it and none of us chickens challenge that. Isn't she pretty?
During the day, the chicks were given free-reign among all the hens inside the coop, with no conflicts at all.
Mr. and Mrs. Cotton and Sid Vicious and Phyllis Diller made themselves quite at home.
Dust mop or chicken? Just a napping Mrs. Cotton.
After the second night sleeping inside the cage among the hens, it was time to allow the chicks to fully integrate with the big girls day and.....night. The process went surprisingly well.
The chicks are very well-behaved and immediately head for the roosts and quickly fall asleep. Sid Vicious sleeps the deepest sleep of all. His head looks like it's fallen off his body.
Everyone preparing for a good night's sleep. And all getting along. yay!
So, in our final episode of 'As The Coop Turns~Chick Integration' we discovered that sometimes animals can do surprising things, and oftentimes they can be opposite of what you humans expect. It's even better when noone is hurt, no blood is shed, no battles ensue, and no tragedies occur. Here at Laughing Orca Ranch, we all sleep good at night.

Fowl Characters

With the final edition of "As The Coop Turns" looming on the horizon, I found it only fitting that we share some close-up introductions of our main characters.

We are very happy with our two Polish and two Silky chicks. They provide oodles of smiles and entertainment for our family and have integrated into their new chicken family just as well as they have ours.

First up, we have the lovely, prim and proper society lady, Phyllis Diller. The name fits her well for the obvious reason. But she also has a wicked sense of humor, too. She's the only chick who, until today hadn't figured out how to walk into the chicken house at night and instead, perched directly below the door and expected to be picked up and carried inside.
Next up is our man-of-the-coop, and chicken full of attitude and personality, Sid Vicious. We hope he doesn't fall too hard into his rock star character name, but he is already a bit pushy and macho-like. We do think he is quite a handsome fella, though.
And now for the fluff chicks, our two loveable Silkies.
Here's our roo, Cotton. He avoids conflicts with Sid, but is not a pushover either. He enjoys running pell-mell around the coop for his daily exercise. He's the first one of the 4 chicks that figured out how to walk into the chicken house to roost at night. He's a smart one.
Here's a close-up of his bright red wattles and comb.
And last, but certainly not least, is our own little Silky girl, Cloud. Yes, we already have an angora goat with that same name, too, but he's a boy AND he's a goat. So, we are recycling that name because it fits this girl just fine, and hopefully we can keep the goat and chicken separate without too much confusion.

Cloud is a sweet little Silky. She doesn't mind being captured and petted and she prefers to avoid conflict, like Cotton, so everyone in the coop seems to like having her around. Her true personality hasn't really come out yet, but she does seem to prefer hanging out with Sid and Cotton over the snooty Ms. Phyllis. Notice the 5 toes on a silky's foot. Also notice that black skin under the white fluff. These oddities are normal for Silkies and make them quite unique.
Just a little close-up of pretty Ms. Cloud.