I Built A Bridge!

[lizgarf]

Happy weekend, everyone! I finally got my rear in gear and ignored the chicks enough to get some work done and everyone survived! Woohoo! Yay for the weekend and feeling like something more than a chicken-mum for a change!

MM, Cielo is gorgeous!! What is his breed or mix? Such beautiful colors! I should show him to Desi, so Desi can stop thinking he's the only special rooster around and toe the line better.

Thanks to all the Frankie fans! I'm assuming for now that she's a she. So far, the only certain cockerel is the one I mentioned before that I think is Frida's. His little pink comb is getting bigger and I can see the start of wattles. His twin is still smaller and not pink-combed. His wings are as long as anyone else's, though, so that doesn't work for Teila's theory. Otherwise, no one is telling me anything, which is about how it should be at this point. I'm not looking forward to dealing with it when that point comes. Some turn 3 weeks old tomorrow!

Integration is tolerable now. I think the broodzillas could still hurt Rousseau's babies if they had the chance, but they don't seem to be trying as hard. Team Rousseau and the aunties still mostly stay in the run during the day and laying is suffering, but they are mostly ignored by the broodzilla's when they're in the coop. So, it's not the Brady Bunch yet, but overall, the three groups are almost a family - at least a dysfunctional one. They're all still super cute. I love watching them fly up to the roosts (baby Marsha has even made it to the high one)! One of them hopped on my back the other day, when I was fussing with closing a potential rat hole. And the one that I think is Grace's hops up on my lap and even on my hand, when I'm just sitting there! She also looks like a she. Bettina's babies continue to confuse me, haven't told me much one way or the other, and they're too different-looking to compare to the others.

Bantam-brahma x Silkie, IC?? Sounds adorable! I want to see pictures!

Good luck on the car-hunting, Teila! Exciting and daunting for sure. You sure you didn't dip into the drinks with Joel, watching the game? Your post isn't as perfectly edited as usual. Just saying!

 

[Teila]

Good morning Bridge Club

MM good to read that some of your family are feeling better and hope that hubby gets better soon also.

Oh dear, naughty Maude, teaching the boys bad habits!

Beautiful pictures MM; Cielo is handsome! You have beautiful chickens. I love pictures of chickens in the green grass exploring/hunting; having fun doing what chickens do.

Liz it sounds like you may just be over the worse of the integration; great news! That three weeks has gone so quickly; meanwhile on this side of the world, time seems to have stood still, Tina’s hatch seems to have gone on forever and we still have 9-10 days to go.

Lol Liz I had to go back and read my post to see what I missed on the editing!

To be honest, it was not a hangover, just in a hurry due to having lots of things to do I used to be able to partake of a few too many when I was younger but find now the maximum for me is 2 x cans of Bourbon & Cola tops!; Then I switch to coffee, lol.

Woooo hoooo we are mobile again!!!! OK, it is just a car but after nearly 4 months without one it feels good to know that we do not have to strategically plan everything we do around not having a car!

MM yep, sometimes it is a tough call on whether to pour more money into an existing vehicle or bite the bullet and start again. Luckily for us, on this occasion, it was an easy decision. Poor ole Mitsy was not worth anywhere near what it was going to cost to revive her and for what we would have had to spend on her, we bought Jenny:



Yeah, I know, bit silly giving cars names! After having Mitsy for 7 years it was very sad to see her taken away on the truck as she had been a really good car

Anyways, time for me to get this show on the road; things to do before going out and buying some new car mats and car seat covers! Then off into the garden to spend some time with my gals

Have fun and take care my friends

 

[16 paws]

Good morning Bridge Club

MM good to read that some of your family are feeling better and hope that hubby gets better soon also.

Oh dear, naughty Maude, teaching the boys bad habits!

Beautiful pictures MM; Cielo is handsome! You have beautiful chickens. I love pictures of chickens in the green grass exploring/hunting; having fun doing what chickens do.

Liz it sounds like you may just be over the worse of the integration; great news! That three weeks has gone so quickly; meanwhile on this side of the world, time seems to have stood still, Tina’s hatch seems to have gone on forever and we still have 9-10 days to go.

Lol Liz I had to go back and read my post to see what I missed on the editing!

To be honest, it was not a hangover, just in a hurry due to having lots of things to do I used to be able to partake of a few too many when I was younger but find now the maximum for me is 2 x cans of Bourbon & Cola tops!; Then I switch to coffee, lol.

Woooo hoooo we are mobile again!!!! OK, it is just a car but after nearly 4 months without one it feels good to know that we do not have to strategically plan everything we do around not having a car!

MM yep, sometimes it is a tough call on whether to pour more money into an existing vehicle or bite the bullet and start again. Luckily for us, on this occasion, it was an easy decision. Poor ole Mitsy was not worth anywhere near what it was going to cost to revive her and for what we would have had to spend on her, we bought Jenny:



Yeah, I know, bit silly giving cars names! After having Mitsy for 7 years it was very sad to see her taken away on the truck as she had been a really good car

Anyways, time for me to get this show on the road; things to do before going out and buying some new car mats and car seat covers! Then off into the garden to spend some time with my gals

Have fun and take care my friends

Oh boy!

I believe you will be turning a lot of heads riding in Jenny!

 

[lizgarf]

Hi team,
I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Congrats on Jenny, Teila! What a lovely car! How very exciting! My car is named, Piggy (and is also blue), so I support car names, but want to know how you chose Jenny!

How is everyone else and your birds? How are the broodies, TG?

It was a perfectly quiet weekend, here. Flock integration continues to improve. At this point, the Broodzillas seem more interested in herding Rousseau's babies back to her (or away from their babies) than killing them. They do seem to get separated a lot! Frankie has become very amenable to my rescuing her in these situations.
But laying is a disaster. Bettina still lays 1-3 days in a row, and then takes 1-2 days off. Lucy hasn't laid in 3 days!! And she's only 11 months (as of today)! Marsha has only laid one egg in about 10 days. And that's it, other than the broodies and freeloading Jan. I'm definitely in egg-hording mode.

But, it's all worth it for the chickies. I have become mildly obsessed with trying to guess gender and parentage, or just staring at them for long periods of time because they're so much fun. They are still adorable and I'm enjoying watching their changing feathering. Speaking of changes, I noticed that Frankie is starting to get some gold in her new feathers, and I realized that she doesn't have feathered feet, so I've decided she's not Rousseau's chick after all, but Frida's (who has lightly-feathered feet and is an all-around, unidentifiable, mutt)! This would make the two lighter chicks with very fluffy feet Rousseau's, who is a frizzled cochin. I'm pretty convinced that one of them is a boy, because he's the only one with a pink comb and wattles so far, and this also makes more sense, since Rousseau is single-combed. The other two bantams look pretty convincingly like girls, but it's too soon to tell for sure with them or anyone else. It's seeming likely that at least one of Bettina's is a boy, but I'm realizing it might take a really long time to figure out sex on a brahma/marans cross! The marans could be either sex as well. I remember with Desi and Lucy, they looked identical to me until 4 weeks, when Desi's comb started turning pink and he started growing faster.

Anyway, here are some new pics. I just love them so much!

Frankie's new colors:




Diego - the first likely cockerel, next to Grace's likely baby girl on the roost:


Marsha's _? With all those feathers and not much of a comb, seems more likely a girl. She's the best flyer in the bunch, which makes sense since Marsha flew over the roof of my house when she first came here.


Pretty feathers on one of Bettina's babies:


And Grace's baby, trying to sleep on the roost like a big girl with mama Frida:

 

[16 paws]

Liz that last picture is adorable. I think you need to get that one framed. They look like they are so happy and content and I bet they are. Good job of watching out for Frankie.
Marie

 

[Teila]

Good morning Bridge Club

16 paws thank you, yep Jenny sure is pretty!

Liz phew, good to know I am not alone in the naming-car department! Joel picked the name 'Jenny' and for no particular reason, it just came to him.

So pleased for you that things have settled down a little. I love reading about Frankie and how she is doing; she is going to be a very special Bridge Club member.

Ouch! at egg-hording; not good news.

Yep, I also remember when Lucy and Desi were bubbies and how identical they were. We were all waiting and wondering if they were boys or girls.

Once again, beautiful pictures! Besides the obvious best picks being those of Frankie; those two pictures of Frida and Grace’s bubby are adorable .. the second one where they are looking at each other is so sweet, you sure can see the love!

It is also so nice to read that you are now able to enjoy your bubbies and just spend time with them … they are so sweet; enjoy!


My news …..

Less than a week to go now on Tina’s hatch; Sunday being the possible first day but not likely due to giving her the eggs at 4pm; Monday is more likely. She is doing very well, still doing her peacock impersonations. The eggs look and smell OK. I have noticed that she is looking at them more while she is on the nest and hope that it is because she can feel movement or hear noises and not because an explosion is imminent!

In other news, Blondie is broody! Actually, let me rephrase that, Blondie has gone Broodzilla!!

The story; with pictures ……

Due to work being busy yesterday I was not able to collect the eggs until the afternoon. I had to move Blondie off one of her's and one of Cilla’s and while she was not happy, she went out with the rest of the excavation team for play time. They sure had fun making a mess! The picture does not show it that well but Dusty had dug herself a huge hole. As per normal, I swept the mini-wall and pavers when they went to bed and put all the dirt back in their spot ….



I was pottering around out there with them and could not find Blondie so checked the nest box and was greeted by this puffed up cranky …..





She was screeching at me so loudly Joel came out of the house to see what was going on! Anyways, complete with garden gloves which she tried to rip to shreds, I lifted her out of the nest box and put her on the ground …..




After I took the above pic she charged at my feet and attached my toes! I think I removed her from the nest box about 15 times before bed time.

This is her on one of her many trips back to the nest box ....





She is puffing up to twice her size and flaring every feather she possibly can! Shrieking like a banshee the whole time.

Bed time was another little adventure all of it’s own. At this time of year everyone is normally tucked up in bed at 6pm .. I was still out there at 07:10pm moving Blondie from the nest box to the roost! I kept thinking, OK, it is dark enough now, she won’t jump down .. wrong!

This morning, she was in the run with everyone else and happily had some breakfast. I checked a bit later and she was still in the run, mooching around. It was a little chilly last night and I think a chilly night on the roost dropped her temperature enough to semi-break her. Having said that, today is going to be a beautiful warm day and she is currently camped out in the nest box. I am not moving her yet as it is only early morning and she may just be laying an egg. If, at lunch time, she is still in there and no-one looks like they are going to lay, the nest boxes are going to be removed!

This is all great timing by Blondie, tomorrow I am working on site at the Head Office and Thursday and Friday I am away for an IT Team’Retreat’ .. they call it a ‘Retreat’ but it is more of a workshop!

Joel is going to pop Blondie on the roost for me in the evening if she persists at being broody. On the weekend I will be able to lock her out of the coop but I do believe that this is going to be one Broodzilla who is going to be very hard to break!

I will probably not get much chance to sign in now until Saturday to see how everyone is going but look forward to catching up on the weekend.

Take care, stay safe and happy chickens!

 

[lizgarf]

Quote:
Oh my goodness, I love this picture! It looks like Blondie is doing her best B-52 bouffant impersonation! Wrong 80's band, Blondie!!
Sorry about the foot-charging! She definitely seems to be a broodzilla-in-training, but I don't know if Blondie gets to earn that title until she tries to kill someone else!
I wouldn't worry too much about breaking her while you're on your retreat. If Joel can't keep her out of the nest, at least she doesn't have any fertilized eggs under her to start developing. How much damage could she do setting all day?
Enjoy your time away! I hope you'll have something exciting to come home to!! Which day is the 20-day point?

 

[MistyMountain]

MM, Cielo is gorgeous!! What is his breed or mix? Such beautiful colors! I should show him to Desi, so Desi can stop thinking he's the only special rooster around and toe the line better.

Well, he was purchased as an Ameraucana, which from what I understand is basically an EE. No clue on what his history is, just hoping he carries the blue egg gene!! I think hearing from others he is a silver duckwing color? Either way, I am super stoked that he turned out as cool as he did! He keeps his distance, which is good him. He did hold his ground for a moment and turn sideways on me once, but came to his senses quick enough and ran off. Right now things are working well with Willie/Alpha Cielo/Beta. He is learning. I saw him call MJ over for treats this evening. Those two are cute together!

Love the pics! I agree with everyone else, that one of Frida and Grace's baby is awesome! It would be so cool to play around with the colors… making only the highlights show. So exciting to see the new colors popping up! I think that is the best part of mixes… it is all a surprise!

Good morning Bridge Club

MM good to read that some of your family are feeling better and hope that hubby gets better soon also.

Oh dear, naughty Maude, teaching the boys bad habits!

Beautiful pictures MM; Cielo is handsome! You have beautiful chickens. I love pictures of chickens in the green grass exploring/hunting; having fun doing what chickens do.

Liz it sounds like you may just be over the worse of the integration; great news! That three weeks has gone so quickly; meanwhile on this side of the world, time seems to have stood still, Tina’s hatch seems to have gone on forever and we still have 9-10 days to go.

Lol Liz I had to go back and read my post to see what I missed on the editing!

To be honest, it was not a hangover, just in a hurry due to having lots of things to do I used to be able to partake of a few too many when I was younger but find now the maximum for me is 2 x cans of Bourbon & Cola tops!; Then I switch to coffee, lol.

Woooo hoooo we are mobile again!!!! OK, it is just a car but after nearly 4 months without one it feels good to know that we do not have to strategically plan everything we do around not having a car!

MM yep, sometimes it is a tough call on whether to pour more money into an existing vehicle or bite the bullet and start again. Luckily for us, on this occasion, it was an easy decision. Poor ole Mitsy was not worth anywhere near what it was going to cost to revive her and for what we would have had to spend on her, we bought Jenny:



Yeah, I know, bit silly giving cars names! After having Mitsy for 7 years it was very sad to see her taken away on the truck as she had been a really good car

Anyways, time for me to get this show on the road; things to do before going out and buying some new car mats and car seat covers! Then off into the garden to spend some time with my gals

Have fun and take care my friends

Nice car, Teila!! We decided to pour some money into ours… hopefully we made the right choice. It was a cheap car to begin with, just our commuter car.

I had to laugh about the name! I guess I never really named any of my cars, though there was a time when I had a Ford Explorer that I affectionately called "the exploder." Actually, I still own it… and the engine did explode. Really need to do something about that...

We once met a family while camping who had an older motorhome they dubbed "The Dude." Pretty hilarious!

She was screeching at me so loudly Joel came out of the house to see what was going on! Anyways, complete with garden gloves which she tried to rip to shreds, I lifted her out of the nest box and put her on the ground …..




After I took the above pic she charged at my feet and attached my toes! I think I removed her from the nest box about 15 times before bed time.

This is her on one of her many trips back to the nest box ....

I don't need to say it (if you recall my request for poofy broody tina pics) but I LOOOOOVE these pics! I know it is crazy timing for you, Teila, but seeing this just makes me smile. I hope you can get her to change her mind quickly and don't lose a toe in the process!

Not much going on here. Chickens still on lockdown with an exception of evenings. Willie is still tailless. A few of the others are starting to show signs of wanting to molt. 6 eggs a day from 9 layers. That would be nice if I didn't suddenly have all these requests for eggs!!

I visited the farmer's market this weekend. A vendor had something that brought me back to my childhood… ground cherries. I used to get them at the farmer's market with my Nana when I was little. I ate the whole bag. I also bought a pawpaw. It is a custard apple fruit that is native here. It was AMAZING! I am going to plant some here.

My 6 year old is running a fever now… no school for him tomorrow. It seems fevers have been quite common around here. Hopefully it passes quickly.

Have a great week everyone!

 

[lizgarf]

Well, he was purchased as an Ameraucana, which from what I understand is basically an EE. No clue on what his history is, just hoping he carries the blue egg gene!! I think hearing from others he is a silver duckwing color? Either way, I am super stoked that he turned out as cool as he did! He keeps his distance, which is good him. He did hold his ground for a moment and turn sideways on me once, but came to his senses quick enough and ran off. Right now things are working well with Willie/Alpha Cielo/Beta. He is learning. I saw him call MJ over for treats this evening. Those two are cute together!

I visited the farmer's market this weekend. A vendor had something that brought me back to my childhood… ground cherries. I used to get them at the farmer's market with my Nana when I was little. I ate the whole bag. I also bought a pawpaw. It is a custard apple fruit that is native here. It was AMAZING! I am going to plant some here.

From Cielo's pictures, he looks like he's as much an Ameraucana as Marsha was supposed to be, which is not very much! I hope that doesn't sound snotty, because I don't mean it to be. Ameraucanas are supposed to have beards and muffs, like Jan does. Marsha was purchased as an Ameraucana chick by the people I got her from, but she doesn't have the beard/muffs and lays pinkish/tan eggs. She may carry the blue gene anyway, and there's a tiny chance it'll show up in her baby, if her baby is a girl, but I'm not counting on any of it. I picked her, knowing that she may not lay blue eggs, because she was so pretty. I figured Jan would lay enough blue eggs for us, but that sure was wrong!
All that is to say, the fact that Cielo is probably not an Ameraucana is probably a good thing, because that's why he is such a hottie!

Marsha and Jan, demonstrating something about genetics:


I planted ground cherries last year! The ones that make their own paper wrappers? They were fun! I'm sure you could plant them too. I've been meaning to try pawpaws. . . .

 

[MistyMountain]

From Cielo's pictures, he looks like he's as much an Ameraucana as Marsha was supposed to be, which is not very much! I hope that doesn't sound snotty, because I don't mean it to be. Ameraucanas are supposed to have beards and muffs, like Jan does. Marsha was purchased as an Ameraucana chick by the people I got her from, but she doesn't have the beard/muffs and lays pinkish/tan eggs. She may carry the blue gene anyway, and there's a tiny chance it'll show up in her baby, if her baby is a girl, but I'm not counting on any of it. I picked her, knowing that she may not lay blue eggs, because she was so pretty. I figured Jan would lay enough blue eggs for us, but that sure was wrong!
All that is to say, the fact that Cielo is probably not an Ameraucana is probably a good thing, because that's why he is such a hottie!

Marsha and Jan, demonstrating something about genetics:


I planted ground cherries last year! The ones that make their own paper wrappers? They were fun! I'm sure you could plant them too. I've been meaning to try pawpaws. . . .

Don't worry, I didn't take it wrong at all. He and the other five in my flock are hatchery stock Ameraucanas. I simply call them EE so I don't ruffle any feathers. Some people get all bent out of shape over SOP and stuff. I actually prefer mutts to purebred LOL. I have a purebred quarter horse…. so many problems out of that expensive horse. My husband has always had mixed or grade horses. His could be missing half of it's hoof and never take a lame step. Mine on the other hand could step on a rock and be out for a week. We had a purebred Westie. He was a once in a lifetime dog temperament wise, but oh my goodness the skin allergies!! That said, I do have BIG plans to hatch some German New Hampshire eggs next summer. Not so much because of the "expensive purebred stuff" but more so because they are pure heritage wise. I want something closer to what ranged on my Grandpa's farm. Pretty stinkin' excited about that!!

Out of MJ's hatch I have ended up with 6 pullets and 2 cockerels. 6 of those came from a blue egg, so I suppose there is a chance they will lay green eggs (or in Blackbeard's case, carry the blue gene). Two pullets and one cockerel have tufts and beards. Three pullets do not, but I am about 99% sure those three came from Sandy, who does not have a beard but lays a beautiful blue egg and has strong back feathers that do not show rooster abuse as much as the other EE do. The remaining cockerel and pullet are leghorn mixes. I was thinking.. as I wait for these slow maturing orps and cochins, wow… these little pullets could be laying by Christmas! Good thing too, since it seems like everyone wants them now that I don't have many eggs.

Does Marsha have a pea comb? It almost looks like a short straight comb. They say the pea comb is a good indicator because the comb gene and blue gene are close together.

Yup! Those are ground cherries. Some use them in jelly. I just like to eat them! Definitely a different taste. I really recommend trying pawpaws! They are supposed to be super good for you! I just halved mine and scooped out bites with a spoon. The flesh is that tender, really just like custard. You work around big seeds, but that is no big deal. The taste is fruity but very mild and I was left dreading the last bite. You can make bread, muffins and ice-cream among other things with them. I am hooked!