Things are going good here in my own little sphere of poultry addiction. I finally sold the last of the 26 Production Red Pullets that I ordered on a whim 3 weeks ago (what can I say - I needed a lil' "pick-me-up" in the form of a "cheeping box of happiness")! They all arrived alive and I sold 24 and made money and gave 2 to a friend - ENABLER ALERT!
I gave the guineas back to Daisychick, she had let me adopt 3 of her guineas, they were doing fine at first. They followed my Ameraucana rooster around everywhere, kinda like annoying teenagers following an idol around and really made him nervous, which I enjoyed watching. Then they developed a really rotten habit of sneaking up behind my WCB Polish and pulling out chunks of her feathers almost as if they were bored and doing it for sport!
Here is a picture of my guineas following a nervous Ameraucana while he is attempting to flirt with 'Morticia', my NN who I actually think is a Madagascar game (NN should have str8 comb, right?), she came in a pullet surprise from Ideal.
My 1 legged Araucana Rooster got nabbed by a hawk last month, that was sad. His name was Tiny, he never got very big, but he had a very cheerful crow and he would let me hold him and feed him while I held him. I'll miss him, but it kinda went against principles to feed a 1 legged rooster when times are hard and feed is expensive. I kept him because he was the only surviving chick I hatched here, I had rotten luck with incubating last winter, I think I hatched 5 chicks out of several hundred eggs and only Tiny made it to adulthood. Here is a picture of Tiny crowing...
My Silkie and one of my Black Split Ameraucanas are both broody right now. Allegedly, the Black Split Ameraucana had a grandmother who was a Silkie, but we don't talk about that in "polite" company, but this isn't the alphabet forum lol. She is VERY determined, even if it means sharing a nest box with my Silkie. They are sitting on 9 eggs each, some from my own Ameraucanas and some from Daisychick's mix of Marans and Ameraucanas, so who knows what I'll get!
My white Silkie decided to do a copy cat broody after the Black split went broody. The White Silkie (who my mother named 'Queeny') had just hatched the 2 CUTEST little lavender pullet chicks, from my former Lav OEGB roo (who I gave away recently) over the black split Ameraucanas (Thing #1 & Thing #2), but they got eaten by hawk or foxes unknown, they were so tiny, they would SQUEEZE through the wire, I thought it was good as they could escape they other chickens if "mom" wasn't around to protect them. Here is a picture of 'Queeny' with her brood at the feeder, after having chased the Ameraucana roo away from the feeder so her babies could eat. The little black chicks ended up being both boys.
Also, in that picture is 'Tina', my special-needs duck whom I adopted from Wifezilla. Tina (formerly Twister) was born with a wonky neck. She does ok, most of the time. Her head is on crooked and she falls over backwards when she drinks. SHe sometimes walks backwards and she occasionally has fits where her neck just spins in circles, but she seems happy and not in any pain. She CERTAINLY shovels the food down!
Tina came with a companion duck - 'Daphne' who follows her everywhere and makes sure she goes in at night. One of the 2 of them lays an egg a day, so there are perks to being a special-needs duck tender! They are Welsh Harlequins, which I guess are really good layers. The only down-side to ducks in the henhouse is the water-splattering when the ducks motorboat the water. My waterers are ALWAYS empty now and the bedding is soaked and has to be constantly changed around the waterer. sigh.
Last but not least, I placed another poultry order today - 25 for Daisychick and so OF COURSE, I had to add 10 assorted OEGB and 5 assorted Silkies. Never mind that I have a grow out pen for my juveniles hidden in the garage in the form of a wading pool surrounded by chicken wire. It has 4 Ameraucanas, 2 bantam EEs, a Frizzle, a Cornish bantam, a White Silkie, 2 buff Brahma bantams and a tiny little buff and white chick. All are girls except for 1 of the Ameraucanas, who is going to be GOURGEOUS!!!!!
Well, good night, er morning y'all, I am going to go start coffee and raid the fridge!
