Chickies, Chickies, Chickies!! Meet the new additions! (Pic heavy!)

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Today was supposed to be the peepers' first night in the coop, so I took some 'last morning inside' pictures this morning. Well, their fenced-off section of the coop didn't work out so well, so they are in their brooder once again and I will be figuring out something for them by Friday hopefully. At the latest, on Sunday. For now, here are some 'not-quite-last morning inside' pictures:

Rangi, of course, was the first one to greet me. She then settled in beside me as a few of the others joined us.

Po was feeling manly and even crowed a couple times while over on the bed.

Hika Ma was not feeling so brave...

...And Whiri, Ihi, Huka, and Marama had already settled in for a morning preen.

Po baby decided to go back to sleep.

And, well, Roha was being Roha...

And I am flat out exhausted from putting up a pen, realizing why it wouldn't work, taking it down, and then fixing some fence on the Guinea enclosure, so I'm off to bed early tonight! Good night, all!

 

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I've got the pen set up in the coop. The babies will be spending their first night outside tonight. No more dozing with Rangi early in the morning, no more waking up to the boys crowing... ...But at least I can sleep in now, right?


My mom actually asked me what my excuse would be for bringing them in tonight anyway...

 

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Well, they survived their first night in the big girl coop! All is well this morning! The big girls did a 'morning serenade' this morning, where they all set into the egg song for no apparent reason, but the babies don't seem to be traumatized. My room is so lonely...


But anyway, Hika Ma is getting lessons in manners this morning. Apparently, he has started to pick favorites (my cockerels seem to do this, I don't know if anyone else has seen it happen in their flock), and his favorites are Rangi and Roha. That's dangerous territory to tread upon. And, come to find out, they both have feathers missing from their backs and the backs of their necks because of him. :/ This morning was the last straw, though. He decided to chase poor Roha around the pen about three times and then beat up on her for not cooperating, so he got the boot. The big girls are taking care of his attitude.

Po baby, meanwhile, had a moment after Hika Ma was removed where I thought I might have to give him the boot as well, but he calmed down. I think he was just making sure the girls knew that he was big man of the mini-flock now. His favorite is Marama, but he's so gentle and she has barely a feather overturned from not cooperating with his amorous pursuits. Hopefully this doesn't change with Hika Ma out of the picture.

 

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From last night, some unhappy faces. This is not where they expected to end up!

I opened the door of their little cage just a crack to get pictures, and Rangi made a run for it. I had to grab her before she got too far!

I missed her waking me up this morning, but I'll get over it. At least I'm getting enough sleep now, rather than being awakened too soon! They're on their way to integration into the flock, my little darlings!

 

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Today, the 12th, they are technically 2 months old by the day, so I got individual pictures.

Hika Ma the little meanie:

Huka:

Ihi:

Marama:

Po baby!

Rangi the great!

Roha:

Whiri:

 

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We've had so much rain that I don't think the girls were used to being able to sunbathe! They had a good, long sunbath while I was out taking pictures today.

It started with Rangi:

Then Ihi joined in:

Huka gave up preening to join the pile:

Po baby came around to show them how it's done. Oh, yeah, Po makes this look good:

Whiri decided it looked nice and plopped onto Po

They enjoyed a nice snooze in the sunshine

 

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Ihi and Marama, best friends

Ihi, Roha, Po baby, and Marama by the fence:

Po--look at his little wattles!

Raaaaangi! On the waterer where she belongs, obviously.

Rangi and Po eating leaves off a wild raspberry bush. Look how small Po is next to her!

 

[Araucana16]

I have read the whole thread

I have no life.

TehLizardKing : your avatar looks like my darling preggers beardie, Sae

Her "boyfriend" Chai is bouncing around with a black beard running into walls

Pipd : Wow, your chicks are the most precious things ever! They are so grown up... I love them so much! Your photos look a lot like my aunt and (recently departed) uncle's little woods behind there house. I can imagine they love that! I just have a barren dirt pasture + my very shaded and grassy backyard

I keep on begging my mom to take me back to VA or CA, forever... Did you get them from a feed store? And did you get the roos on purpose (straight run) or get pullets and then a bad run with a few roos?

 

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These babies were picked up directly from Meyer Hatchery. They're living in chicken heaven, in my little coop in the woods. I've recently come to appreciate where I live again, as it seems I've taken it for granted for some time now, and it truly is a beautiful place. About 50 acres, half of which is wooded, and the girls range in a big clearing surrounded by those woods. Their run, which is where the babies stay until I can trust them to free-range, is mostly wooded and on its own quite divine. My brother and his girlfriend and I are actually camping in the chicken yard right now, which should tell you how nice it is out there.

Oh, and the boys were both straight run, though by getting straight run I pretty much was knowingly buying boys with my luck. We have literally only gotten one hen out of straight run batches of chicks in 8 years of keeping chickens. Oh well, at least my little guys are pretty cute.

 

[Araucana16]

It's truly beautiful!


I hear they put hard to sex birds in the straight run bin, so it's usually boys.