Pipd's Peeps 2014!

[carikermoon]

That had to of been the very first time shes EVER pecked me in a mean way.  

The ONLY time any of the silkies pecked me in anger: It was King, of course the hen with Attitude (note the capital "a" there). I was giving her a treat by leaning over the brand-spanking new electric fence. Apparently, I touch the wire, it shocked me and I involuntarily jumped, the shock went through my arm and got her as she was getting the treat. She dropped the treat, pecked me HARD (broke skin), and squawked at me as if to yell at me not to bite her again! I laughed so hard I almost peed. It took a lot of extra loving and treats (with the fence turned off) to get her to unfluff her feathers at me.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

My Silkie is only like a week away from turning a year old. She only started laying late last month/early this month. BUT I just had my mix Ana go broody for the first time yesterday! She was broody for the morning and then snapped out of it by noon. That had to of been the very first time shes EVER pecked me in a mean way.

Margie went broody the first time between 7 and 8 months of age. But she's kind of crazy about it as is. Ana is so pretty, even when she's fluffed out like an evil broody! Is she the one that looked like a Brahma mix?

The ONLY time any of the silkies pecked me in anger: It was King, of course the hen with Attitude (note the capital "a" there). I was giving her a treat by leaning over the brand-spanking new electric fence. Apparently, I touch the wire, it shocked me and I involuntarily jumped, the shock went through my arm and got her as she was getting the treat. She dropped the treat, pecked me HARD (broke skin), and squawked at me as if to yell at me not to bite her again! I laughed so hard I almost peed. It took a lot of extra loving and treats (with the fence turned off) to get her to unfluff her feathers at me.

Aww, poor girl! But I can't help but laugh. Besides mean, nasty roosters, I've only ever been bitten by a Cochin bantam boy, Po (which I now know was my fault; I cornered him), my meek Ancona, Rangi (she gets very defensive at perch time...), and one of our first hens, Toasty, who was the broodiest little critter we had owned--before Margaret, of course. Fortunately, none of my broodies have been biters since her. They puff out and make some evil noises, but they never peck at me.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

And speaking of Margie... I found her stewing on broken eggs this evening. She's so broody, she doesn't care! She was so soaked in egg goo that I couldn't leave her like that, so she came in for a rather impromptu bathing. This was not okay with her.

I tried only to wash her belly, where the gunk was, but she got all emotional and flew into the running water. Sigh... After some toweling and blow-drying, though still looking quite miserable, here she was:

This will simply not do! She will just have to fix this mess!

I love her sweet brown eyes! Looks like I will be giving her a closer cleaning in the morning to get the gunk off her face. It's in her crest as well. Not sure how to fix that. :/

She was still quite damp in spite of my efforts, and it's supposed to be down in the 30's tonight, so she's spending the night inside. Just when I thought my room would be free of chickens for a while!



One last picture for laughs. She reminds me of those troll dolls. Poor henny!

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Lol. Wet chickens are quite pathetic looking! I've had my chickens sit on broken eggs before. Not bad enough to bathe them, but still. Blech.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yeah, I've never bathed a chicken before, but Margie was soaked thoroughly in egg goo. I've left hens before for having some on their belly, but this was bad. Almost like she rolled in it. She had it clear up in her wings, in her vent feathers, up her chest, and all of it was soaked through to her skin. Ick!

AND, she's not done brooding even yet! Now I have her going still, as well as two of the Sebright bantams. They are soooo lucky they're so cute! Thankfully, a couple of days in a pen convinced Poggy that she didn't want to brood. I don't have enough places to put all these broodies!





In other news, while I'm posting here, I thought I would introduce y'all to the newest addition, tentatively named Reuben:

Back in February, I had commented on a picture of him that was posted on my state's thread, and his previous owner offered him to me. Well, I turned down the offer initially, because I was still reeling over the MG diagnosis and I didn't think I had enough room for him anyway. I got to thinking and decided I have no self-control, and so I messaged the person and asked if the offer was still on the table. Long story short, he came home on Saturday.

Reuben is a Paint Silkie. His previous owner mentioned that he might have some champagne leakage as well, but she wasn't sure if it was that or if his feathers were just dirty. Either way, I think he's a handsome boy, and once his quarantine is over, he should be happy as the main man in the coop with 37 hens all to himself.

A few more pictures of him, just because. He is such a manly ball of fluff!

His favorite thing to do: Crow! I have a video of him crowing, but I don't have the time at the moment to upload it, so I'll post it later.

A closer look at the possible champagne leakage and/or dirty feathers:

This was the first picture I took of him. Apparently the flash surprised him. What a man.

Gotta run for now!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Reuben crowing. He has such a quiet crow compared to the other boys I've had.






[VIDEO]

Funny note, here. Reuben crows ALL. THE. TIME. Especially when he knows someone is nearby to hear him, the show off! When I was looking through names for him, I already had Reuben in mind because it's a name I rather like anyway. Well, I came across Reuben on one of the baby name sites I was looking at and I just had to click to see what the name meaning was. Apparently, Reuben means, 'behold, a boy'. I thought that was both very fitting and somewhat hilarious.


Err, anyway...

 

[lightchick]

Quote: Yes she is the Brahma mix. She is still going broody off and on. I think part of it is that she's the lowest in the pecking order and the other chickens bully her out of the nest when they need to lay and that breaks the broodiness for the rest of the day.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Aww, poor girl! I have a couple like that, not the broody part but the bottom of the pecking order part. I wish I could help them, but chickens will be chickens. :/



Speaking of broodies, guess who's next joining the broody brigade? Our big ol' Georgette was in the nest tonight when I went to close the coop for the night, and she made one heck of an evil noise when I reached in to get her! That makes four--so far, anyway. It looks like Scooter (one of the two broody Sebrights) might be quitting early, but Margie and Rose (the other broody Sebright) have been very stubborn thus far. UGH!

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Love your new roo! Paints are so cool. Haha. Once one goes broody, they whole gang joins in.

 

[lightchick]

Aww, poor girl! I have a couple like that, not the broody part but the bottom of the pecking order part. I wish I could help them, but chickens will be chickens.

Speaking of broodies, guess who's next joining the broody brigade? Our big ol' Georgette was in the nest tonight when I went to close the coop for the night, and she made one heck of an evil noise when I reached in to get her! That makes four--so far, anyway.

It looks like Scooter (one of the two broody Sebrights) might be quitting early, but Margie and Rose (the other broody Sebright) have been very stubborn thus far. UGH!

Wow. You have a lot of broodies! I sort wish she'd stay broody so I could hatch something under her. How many roosters do you have?