FERN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[joletabey]

Cynthia, you are so sweet to keep trying - we will wait patiently- I just hope Ginger and Livvie and Ivy feel better- how is Ginger acting, by the way?

 

[speckledhen]

Ginger acts like Ginger, no different than she ever has, except for not laying those super jumbo eggs she always gave me. DH said Nugget went back on the eggs. Could be that she is telling us there are too many, but 10 is not bad for a girl her size.

 

[joletabey]

Come on Nugget, fluff those feathers out!

Is Ginger sleeping more than usual or anything like that?

 

[Serrin]

Quote:
I share your pain Beth!

Literally! Working with Griffin has given me a whole new appreciation of just how sweet all of my girls have always been. He's such a classic example of a chicken who has been left to his own devices since being hatched. Nobody has ever worked with him before I came along. For which I am extremely thankful. His only opinion and notion of humans to this point has been that of food bringers and egg takers. They never abused him or terrorized him...they simply ignored him. As such, he's taming down very quickly. Much faster than I have any right to expect.

Griff pecked at me the first day when I decided after about 3 hours he'd had enough time to settle in. And yes, he grabbed me HARD! He didn't draw blood, but it was certainly enough to give me a new respect for his strength!! That's when I grabbed him around the beak (I already had him in my arms) and clamped down just enough to let him know who was in charge, and that it wasn't HIM!! Thankfully I've only had to do that one more time since last Saturday. Like I said, he's settling in real fast! Also thankfully, he's young and impressionable. And a very fast learner!! **insert evil snicker here**

Cyn: How many eggs do you usually put under Nugget? Is this set larger than what you normally request of her broody services? Maybe she's just not feeling up to ten eggs. Would YOU want ten little squawkers under you at any given time???

Try 8 and see what she does. If she takes that number then we'll know she was protesting the increased workload without the increase in pay! Hmmm...there's an idea...can she be bribed???

 

[speckledhen]

She started with ten, but I removed one this morning, Meg's, since it was cool to the touch and I thought maybe she didn't like a clutch that large. If they haven't gotten too chilled, they'll probably hatch, as long as she keeps sitting most of the day like she has. She was pacing to get out, I opened the door to the pen, she went out and pooped a Mt. Everest broody poop, then went back and sat off the eggs for about 15 minutes. She's back on now, though. This will be fun (NOT).

 

[joletabey]

Serrin, I am glad to hear Griffin is turning into your sweet baby - he is SO pretty. I had a better morning with my biter- I decided to rename him and do a few other things-I told the story over on the Delaware thread. I didn't know, getting into this, exactly how responsive chickens can be - my only experience was with my neighbors chickens, who free range on to my property, and the vague memories I have of the chickens my grandfather and parents had when I was a child- and those were NOT good memories. It sounds like you are the perfect mom for Griffin and I'm glad you found each other!

Let's hope Nugget does it - Cynthia, you are a goddess of patience!

 

[Cetawin]

Quote:
She is that for sure

 

[speckledhen]

Well, I don't know about that, but I want Ultrasuede to have some ladies and I really don't want to break out the bator again this year if I don't have to.

 

[Serrin]

Quote:
Can we get a great big huge AMEN on that?!?!? Oh Yeah!!!

Doubt it? Just go back through the last four pages and count how many times the rest of us have hijacked her thread!!!

Not to mention the twenty some odd other threads of Cyn's that we've hijacked in the last six months or so!!

Woman, you are the very definition of patience!!

Beth, thanks for the nice words you have for my little man. I really do appreciate it. I know there are a lot of other roo's out there, and just about all of them have a lot more "Bling" to them than Griffin does, but he's my little man...all mine!

I sure hope you can turn your little guy's attitude around in short order. I can't speak from experience yet, but something tells me that the rewards of having a sweet rooster are going to be fantastic!

 

[speckledhen]

Beth, the news is not so great. Went out a few minutes ago. Eggs were still slightly warm, but Nugget was on the roost, hunkered down next to Snow and very obviously half asleep. So, since it will be in the teens, no need to leave the eggs out there to freeze. Took them inside and opened them up. Probably just as well that she isn't sitting since not one of Dusty's three were fertile (though I did open one after collecting these that did seem fertile, so maybe next time...). All others had started to develop, including Smoky's, but were just at the "cloudy skies" stage on the yolk.

ETA: On the bright side, Shadow laid her 3rd post-prolapse egg, no blood streaks. We checked her and her vent is no longer pulsing like it was for a few days after we pushed the prolapse back in. Yea! She seems fine now.