Pipd's Peeps!

Glad to hear from you again, Shadow rabbit! Hope your semester went well! Yikes about the hawk, though! Cooper's hawks are the only species that has killed any of my birds (my sweet Kit-Kit and darling little Vespa :/ ), so I know what you mean on that. Glad you were able to save your Silkie (even if that was a few years ago now)!





Had another long, long day. PHEW! I did the re-dose of Permethrin for the mites today. I only saw what might have been one dead mite on Benjamin (I couldn't tell if it was a dead mite or some dirt), and no mites alive or dead on anyone else! I'm going to keep checking them frequently from here on, but it looks like the mite blight is over with for now! (Thankfully, because catching and spraying 41 uncooperative chickens, many of which are HEAVY, is quite exhausting! )




We... also ended up with another pet today, something I'm a bit torn about. Y'all might remember a few months ago when I was ticked off because my sister brought home a puppy and the house is already quite crowded with dogs and cats. Well, that hasn't changed, but we've ended up with another cat now. And as much as I feel the house has too many animals in it as is, I just adore this cat. It's a bit of a long story.

My aunt got this cat maybe a year or two ago, I can't recall. She was a rescue, an older declawed cat who had been abandoned by someone. Everyone loves her. She's just such a personality that's hard not to love! Well, fast forward some time, my aunt (who was widowed) met someone, fell in love, and got married, all within a few months. We were all a bit concerned about this, but one quite concerning thing about him was that this guy did NOT like this cat. And if you ever met her, you would know how strange that was, because everyone loves this cat!

A few months passed and all we knew was that my aunt, to everyone's complete shock, got rid of the cat. Then, a few weeks ago, she contacted us and asked if we could take her because the home she was in had a very hyperactive child who was, without meaning to, being abusive to the cat. And as much as this house is crowded, well, how could we let that happen?

So, everyone, meet Keiko!



She is the funniest, sassiest, most talkative cat I've ever met, and none of that is in a bad way! Though I am torn about bringing in another animal, I guess I'm also just glad to know for sure that this big, lovable lug is in a good home and won't be abandoned again. I guess the difference is that we planned out her coming here and made proper arrangements for it rather than just running out and getting an animal that would need to be trained and housebroken... Okay, yeah, I'm being a hypocrite on this one...

(And yeah, she is quite overweight... That's something to work on with her.)

Aww, she/he is SOOOO pretty pipd!

Well I hope your mite problem is history now. What a job that was to get rid of them.

Keiko is really a beautiful cat. There is always room for one more animal. What is that old saying love me love my dog. I'm sure that applies to cats too. I would be a little leary of someone not likeing my animals.

I hope you have a Happy New Year and stay safe. We will be babysitting our great granddaughter. I can't think of a better way to bring in the new year.

There is something strange about the fact that he doesn't like Keiko... It's puzzling, though, because he really liked the chickens when he met them. I'm used to people making jokes about chickens being food, but he didn't make any comments like that and only asked what kinds some of them were or what their names were. He's also just fine with my aunt's other cat, so it's not that he dislikes cats particularly. It's just odd.

So, anyway, Keiko is settling in and getting back to her usual self now. She is so funny! She waddles along behind you wherever you go and softly meows as if trying to coach you through whatever you're doing. Either that, or she'll just sit and look up at you expectantly, because obviously you were walking that way because you wanted to give her attention! Then, when she gets bored of that, she goes and plops over on her side or rolls to her back. She loves belly rubs, something I thought was kind of weird for a cat, but it just adds to how unique and funny she is! She's such a big goofball.



We had an alarming encounter with a Cooper's hawk today. Usually, when they see me coming they fly off. This one saw me coming and just kept stalking through the branches toward the chickens, undeterred. It was pretty scary. I'm just glad that I have the deck on the coop, because they're safe as long as they're in there. It's just a shame, because it's a clear, warmish day and there's no snow on the ground, so I was considering letting the girls out to stretch their wings a bit this afternoon... :/ Not anymore.

We're getting closer and closer to the projected hatch date of the eggs! Tomorrow is the last day before lockdown, when turning stops and I candle them one last time to check that everything looks right, then lay them on their sides so that they can get ready to hatch!! Can't wait!



Hope everyone had fun last night with however they decided to celebrate the new year! Now, to start getting used to writing 2017 instead of 2016...

Hi Pipd! My semester went very well (first one down!) and I hope yours did as well. I got so wrapped up in finals I didn't realize I hadn't been on BYC in a few weeks. Hope your mite treatment is going well. I wonder if tis the season for mites because one of my rabbits has a pretty bad fur mite infestation and it might have spread to my other rabbits... (I've been away so I haven't been home to check and my mom doesn't really know what mites looks like). Looks like I'm going to have a fun time getting rid of those...
You're new cat is adorable! Sometimes when we don't think we want more animals they kind of just walk into our lives don't they? Those animals always seem to be the most special though. She sounds like a wonderful cat. Glad to hear the hawk no longer causes an issue. It is a shame how you can't free range though. I've been having that problem here for a while. I feel so bad that I can't let them out of the run like I used to. Also best of luck with the eggs! Hope you had a great New Year's as well, and best wishes to a fantastic 2017.

My semester went as well as it could go with Organic Chem and Physics in the same semester... But I survived and managed to pass everything, so I'm happy.

Ew, hope you can get those mites under control! It looks like my flock is clean for mites so far, fingers crossed!

I agree, it makes me feel so bad that I can't let them out. Especially when it's so nice out and there's no snow to slow them down... :/ But at least they're safe. It's always this time of year that we have problems with hawks, and only with juvenile hawks. I have a feeling a pair of Cooper's hawks moved into our woods within the past few years and kicks out their kids this time every year. Either that or I was just lucky not to have seen any for 8 years and that luck ran out.






WE ARE IN LOCKDOWN! e So technically, the eggs could hatch at any point in the next few days. They don't look like they will hatch early, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW! I stopped turning them, but I decided to leave them pointy-end down for one last day to make sure the egg that was set a day late was ready. I've got to figure out separators for the incubator so that I can make sure I know who's who once they hatch. ARGH, I'M SO EXCITED!!

That's great though, especially since you were taking them together. I've heard organic chem and physics are rough (I was awful at physics in high school) so I'm dreading the day I have to take them. And yes I hope I can fix the mite problem too. I medicated all my rabbits with Ivomec yesterday so we'll see what happens... Keep us updated on the eggs! I can't imagine how excited you must be. Forgive me if you said it already, but are the eggs from your birds or did you order some eggs?

Be sure to post pictures once they start hatching!

Also hi I thought I'd drop in after being absent a few months

shadow rabbit10 said:

That's great though, especially since you were taking them together. I've heard organic chem and physics are rough (I was awful at physics in high school) so I'm dreading the day I have to take them. And yes I hope I can fix the mite problem too. I medicated all my rabbits with Ivomec yesterday so we'll see what happens... Keep us updated on the eggs! I can't imagine how excited you must be. Forgive me if you said it already, but are the eggs from your birds or did you order some eggs?

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Yes, my best advice to you on those classes is to learn from my experience, and DON'T take them both at the same time!

These are eggs from my silkied Red Cochin bantam pair, Donna and Roscoe. After sweet little Cordelia passed on, we decided that we'd probably better hatch some as soon as possible, because if anything happened to Donna or Roscoe, that would be it--no easy way of getting more beyond getting smooth feathered Cochin bantams to cross and cross back to (it would take two generations to see silkied feathers again). These guys were a once in a lifetime opportunity to get, so I wasn't going to let that happen!

TheChickenQueen said:

Be sure to post pictures once they start hatching! 

Also hi I thought I'd drop in after being absent a few months 

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Hi again! There will definitely be pictures when they hatch!! I can hardly wait for it!! One of the eggs was wiggling this afternoon when I checked on them! EEEK!! e

pipdzipdnreadytogo said:

Yes, my best advice to you on those classes is to learn from my experience, and DON'T take them both at the same time!

These are eggs from my silkied Red Cochin bantam pair, Donna and Roscoe. After sweet little Cordelia passed on, we decided that we'd probably better hatch some as soon as possible, because if anything happened to Donna or Roscoe, that would be it--no easy way of getting more beyond getting smooth feathered Cochin bantams to cross and cross back to (it would take two generations to see silkied feathers again). These guys were a once in a lifetime opportunity to get, so I wasn't going to let that happen!
Hi again! There will definitely be pictures when they hatch!! I can hardly wait for it!! One of the eggs was wiggling this afternoon when I checked on them! EEEK!! e

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Yay!EEEEK!Im so happy!I know you are hatching these eggs in case something happens to Donna or Roscoe, but are you also getting chicks from a hatchery this spring:early summer?