Esther and Winnie~ Emerald ~ Momma Time~ UH-OH Egg Overload P46

[silkiechicken]

Some day she may step up, but it will probally take a while.

 

[barg]

» Esther & Winnie ~ The Occupation~ Sleeping With The Enemy~The rest of the day has gone pretty much exactly like the last few days
I see no signs of the chicken groups coming together.

Night report:
It is amazing the drive to go inside the coop, “Chick Time” seems to be a few minutes ahead of "Pullet Time" and today, just as yesterday, they decided it was time to turn in before the pullets; of coarse this wasn’t going to happen since the pullets demand to go in first.

Despite how they act once they get in, the chicks do want to go inside the house at night.
I had to direct traffic with the super soaker as they went in again, the pullets are particularly hostile when its time for bed.

Inside the coop: pandemonium.
Winnie is driving me and all the chickens crazy, she will not sit still or shut up when she gets inside the house.
She knocked Esther off her roost again; in the mean time the Pullets were so annoyed by all the noise that one of the Australorps pecked the other Australorp in the eye.
The pullets keep looking like they are going to attack the chicks as they try to get settled, but then they see me in the open window with the super soaker pointed at them and they sit back down.
When it finally looked like Winnie was in a good enough spot, I shut their light of to get her to stop moving around and shut up.
The night has just begun.
I’ll have more if there are any developments.

 

[barg]

I just checked on them using a flash light.
Winnie must have either knocked Esther off the roost, or bothered her enough that she moved, either way, she is now sitting right next to the big girls.
I don’t know how she got there, the coop is completely dark, and if she got knocked off I can’t imagine how she got back up there.
All the big girls were asleep but Esther was not, I think she knows where she has landed herself.
Winnie is still as far way from the big girls as she can be and all alone.

My guess is that things will reshuffle by morning.

 

[barg]

12 Weeks Old

After some problems that occurred in the mornings, we have decided to keep the chicks separated from the pullets for the time being.
We will open the door to let them go into the coop house at night and then separate them first thing in the morning.

Not knowing that, because of her breed, Winnie would not mature or grow at the same rate that the older four had, my plans for integration have always been off.

The plan now is:
Wait until Winnie gets more mature, stops acting like a chick and grows larger then all the other chickens; when that happens I'll try to integrate them again.
If I can't integrate them when Winnie is older, I'll have to create some alternate living arrangements.

Now that summer is almost over and the kids are going back to school, I have run out of time to mess with this, there are other things that I could try, but I just don't have the time.

I'll keep posting photo's to show their progression.

Thanks for your support during this thread

 

[lacyloo]

aww

why do they have to grow up so fast,lol

 

[barg]

Ok, I guess I have to ask this question.
Hopefully some of you who have been more successful then I, will have some thoughts on this.
The reason we separated the chicks from the pullets was that, there was a big fight and Colleen found Esther lying on the ground like she was dead.

Despite this ordeal and the fact that she shows no sign of becoming less afraid of the older girls,
The last few nights she has been sleeping right next to the big girls in the coop.
Winnie sleeps alone on the other side of the roosts, as far from the big girls as she can be.

There is plenty of room on the roost to be away from the big girls and yet, Esther snuggles up in the middle of them at night.

The big girls beat the crap out of her earlier in the day, why is she sleeping next to them?
She isn't just near them; she's right up against them.

 

[aran]

hey barg...i have seen the same thing in my coop...albeit the birds dont beat the crap outa each other just because they seem to have enough room to run away. However you are right...at night the worst enemies are there snuggled up sleeping side by side on the roost...then the next day its back at it! Weird!

 

[barg]

Size comparison at 20 and 12 weeks
Mrs. Nezbit, Winnie and the Smiley cup.

Winnie was not exactly calm for the photo session and the peck Mrs.Nezbit gave her didn't help matters.
I wanted them both standing but since I couldn’t get Winnie to stand, I made Nez sit down.


Shot Of Mrs. Nezbit @ 20 weeks

 

[barg]

Winnie Has Finally started to Cluck.
The chiks are still in the tractor, seprated from the pullets during the day and then sleep in the coop with them at night.

Domineak the Dominique has laid her first egg(s) Today!
We made a post NEED HELP First Egg(s) {Pics} Double Eggs, Incompletely Formed & Soft Since her first was so odd.
Thanks to Deb and Cyn for the quick responces.

Domineak laid both of these incomplete, soft eggs at the same time.
There are two yolks;
Colleen thinks they may have been attached to
each other but i'm not sure they line up right,
but they may have been.
This is how they were found inside the nest box,
You can't see it but, Domineak is still standing next to the eggs.

(W)Flash

 

[DoctorGoose]

That's some egg. I love how Mrs. Nezbit is totally posing for all her shots! What a pretty chicken! (Winnie too--tell her I said that).