@BantyChooks Update: One of six hatched yesterday, Day 20. Other five eggs rotten! I will let the broody raise her so she won't be lonely. Mama raised a pair last year for 8 weeks. They were bigger than her! Learning to EatScared of Flash - Sowwy little one.
Toodles
Can? Or will?
Nice flock!A few updates, in pictoral form. I went out of town for a week, and was so relieved that all went well with the chicken sitter. First the sad. Jenny (who has ocular Mareks or other ocular tumors) has a faster growing tumor in one of her eyes now. There is nothing I can do to help her, and she is comfortable in her coop despite her already decreased vision, with a companionable fellow hen and a solicitous and sweet rooster who adores her, so I just keep an eye on her. She's getting along ok so far, not sure what the future holds.
Her "good" eye (which isn't normal, but it's the only eye she can see out of):
On a brighter note... The youngest "babies" are now 16 weeks old (wow - they grow so fast!). Not all have names - only the ones who "reveal" their names to me. Everyone else is "Hey, you."
I built the Sorority Sisters (Pullet group) an ugly-as-sin shade shelter out of a pallet and scrap wood (they have more sun than the others). They adore it. I also put out misters for them all once it started hitting about 100F, and they have done well in adapting.
Raven (Black Copper Maran pullet) is the friendliest of the bunch.
Arbequina (Olive egger) is splash copper maran mixed with wheaten ameraucana I think, and may be the prettiest bird in the yard. Alas, she knows it (little drama queen...)
I wanted to name the three German New Hampshire pullets after the Golden Girls (seemed to fit), but I just had to name the one that reminded me of Bea Arthur "Maude" instead of Dorothy.
Goodwin the Lavender Americana cockerel has continued to grow. And he's not "Goodwin" any more. He now only answers to "Robert E. Lee."
The Eight Acres German New Hampshires have done really well. One of the boys (Mr. Yellow, named after his leg band) ended up having a very slight cross beak (didn't even notice it until he was 13 weeks old), so he won't be a keeper, but of the four there are two (Mr. Black and Mr. Grey) who are vying for keeper status. The girls also look great - so pleased with these GNH!!!! Here's Mr. Black, and to his right you can see Mr. Yellow's crossbeak if you look closely (or click on the photo to see it enlarged).
Here's Mr. Grey (the big one in the center).
And here some of them decided to line up for me - thought this was a cute photo
I had not planned on keeping any of the Black/Blue/Splash Copper Marans cockerels (in an attempt to keep things a bit more simple). However, this Splash boy is really big - on latest weigh-in, he is tied with Mr Black at 5 lbs 4 oz at 16 weeks. So I'm going to find a way to make room for him somehow. His name is Chunky Monkey. And his beak is "splash" too (pale with black spots), which I thought was nifty.
The boys have done well so far, but it's time to cull - I'm culling this coming weekend (the two hateful mean Cream Legbar boys who pick fights, and the two olive egger roosters, and Mr. Yellow the crossbeak GNH). Five is as much as I can do in a day, I think. I'll cull the non-keeper Copper Marans the following weekend, perhaps. Last but not least, despite being really busy, I still feel a bit like a deadbeat, because I really need to get the Sorority Sisters' coop built. There's always something to do, isn't there?! Aaaaaaaaannnnnnnnd that's all I've got. (Sorry for the photo bombs...) - Ant Farm
for Jenny. The "ugly as sin " stuff works. I am pretty embarrassed by my structures, but they work. That is all that matters.
Careful your pants are about to burst in to flames.
I kin do it, I got the feed bill & the electricity bill to motivate me.....
Evenin' Phil.
