All Quiet on the Critter Front

No sign of any lambs.
No sign of any weasels.

One of those statements makes me happier than the other, of course.

The chicks are growing, getting prettier by the day. Their wings are developing black and white stripes as they feather out, which you can almost see in the picture.

I had a terrible time even getting a picture of the little peeps, because they move so fast.  One moment I had a group focused in the middle of the frame, the next moment all I had was a plain of woodshavings.  The lighting was complicated in this pic by a sunbeam that was peeking in through the upper window of the coop.

The closest thing to animal excitement (and non-quiet) we've had was the other day when one of the hens was out.  (We keep explaining to the chickens that this is not a free-range establishment.  They keep ignoring us.)  I was happily kneeling in one of my flower beds, pulling weeds, when I had a feeling of not-being-alone.  A quick glance to my side showed a hen standing at my elbow, watching raptly as I tugged at grass, with a "Whatcha doin'?" look on her face.  Or maybe it was an "Are you gonna eat that?" look - it's hard to tell with chickens.  This was the same hen that I'd unsuccessfully chased earlier in the day.  There had been one of those mad loud I-laid-an-egg cackles, but it wasn't coming from the henhouse like it should have been.  (Chickens are very full of themselves when they lay an egg.  They're good for several rounds of "Buk-buk-buk-bu-GACK!!!  Buk-buk-bu-GACK!! Bu-GACK!!!  Buk-buk-buk-bu-GACK!!!"  which roughly translates as "I just laid an egg!!!  Me!!!  I laid an egg!!  It's the best egg EVER!!!")  I finally tracked the noise down to the bunnies' shed, where the hen was telling poor Stiffler all about her brand new egg, from a distance of about a foot away.  Poor Stiffler - large ears, sensitive hearing.  He was just staring at her with a rabbity WTF face.  I made a grab for her and missed, but at least it shut her up as she ran out. 
I swear I heard Stiffler give a sigh of relief as I picked up the Best Egg Ever and took it to the house.