Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Question for ya'll. When do you guys think a hen is ready to be allowed brood? I have a mix breed that I hatched who has decided she want to try to hatch non-fertile eggs  She'll be 7 months old in about 10 days so personally I think she is too young. But she is growling at the other hens who try to come in the nesting box. The tiny thing is all puffed up... it's kinda cute.
If she keeps it up long enough, I might see if someone in my area has hatching eggs(all nine roos are still little), then get the 'bator together just in case.

To be honest, some hens have the maternal instincts right from the get-go and some don't. It's really a toss up whether your hen is going to be a good broody at this age or not. If you do decide to let her brood, I would suggest keeping an incubator and brooder ready, just in case she quits part way through incubation or decides she doesn't want to raise chicks once they've hatched.







So, for the big reveal! Here is our newest addition, Emmy!

She was a little unnerved by a cat walking by (outside of her quarantine, but within view) and stretched her neck out really far to keep an eye on him.

She's entirely unimpressed with her quarantine pen. Don't worry, my dear, it's just a temporary thing.

She's not much of a fan of attention, but she's probably also not feeling too friendly because of the move. I'm sure she'll warm up eventually. She's been letting me mess with her wattles and stroke her feathers, but she's just tolerating it as far as I can tell. She does not like me messing with her comb, though!


Anyway, enjoy! I think I'd better get moving before a certain little ducky gets impatient for her bath time.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Yay! Love her. She has really nice flecks on her chest and back.

 

[TheChickenQueen]

Oh, she is lovely! <3 Very pretty bird.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Today, Crash duck is 7 weeks old! She has been a lot more vocal lately, and a lot more shy as well. Hopefully, that doesn't last! She doesn't seem to mind being held, but she flees from my hand when I try to pick her up.

Anyway, I didn't get many pictures of her because I was busy fawning over her. But here's what I got:

Being extra pretty.

Cuddle time!

Here is her buddy picture for the week. Not great, but the best one I got without her chewing on the Easter chick.

Shortly after I put the camera aside and started hugging on her more, she dropped the nastiest poop I think she has ever produced, right on my lap. Time to do laundry...





In other news, a point for quarantine. Emmy hasn't been acting well.

I don't know what's going on. It doesn't seem like anything too alarming, but she hasn't been eating much and her crop has been squishy. I did end up moving her quarantine space to another room, as I had never had birds in the room she was in before and I thought maybe there were some fumes in there or something. It came on so quickly, and she has perked up a bit since she moved, though is still not acting like she should. At least, she's not acting like I think she should, not having known her for long... Anyway, right now I'm thinking it's either some sort of fume in the other room or stress from the move... Or both...

I do trust her previous owner and I've gotten a bird from her before. I have no reason to suspect she intentionally sent a sick bird home with me. I have been in contact with her about Em and she has even offered to take Em back, although I'm not sure on that yet as she's not really showing signs of anything contagious... I did look at Emmy before we left and saw nothing to be concerned about. She was sitting still in her box, looking terrified as any bird would be for being put in a box and driven off away from their home. I don't think even if I had removed her from the box to check her that I would have seen anything to put up red flags. I checked her out pretty thoroughly when we got home with her and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. It seemed to come on after she had been here.

Regardless, this is really scary for me... I think I'm having a streak of bad luck right now. :/

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Yup... Bad luck streak... I had to bring Kate in tonight because her vent is prolapsed. I have cleaned her up and attempted to push her vent back in, but it is not staying for long. She's still able to pass droppings, so I think I have some time to work with her and see if I can get everything back in working shape.

Betty has finished her worming treatment with no change. Next thing I think is to push more fluids and see if I can break loose whatever is slowing her system down.

Emmy, of course, is unchanged from my last post.

Can someone do me a favor and install a warning light somewhere so I know when the next disaster is coming? :/

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Sorry you're having to deal with this. Can a hen live with a prolapsed vent? And sorry to hear about Betty. It's frustrating to try numerous treatments and have none of them work. Believe me, I've been there.

Hopefully things will turn around for you.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I don't think she could live long with a prolapse, but they sometimes correct themselves with a lot of care. On the plus side, Kate isn't acting at all like she's in pain--in fact, she not only tried to hop out of the tub while I was working to clean her up, but she tried to fly out of her cage the second I opened it after her prolapse had come back out. Hopefully that means it isn't too bad. She's always been a worrier, so it should be interesting to see how cooperative she is with my efforts over the next days...

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Kate seems to be okay this morning. Her prolapse has not come back out as of the last time I checked on her, anyway. I went ahead and put her back out with the flock because she was very unhappy inside, and she's scratching and eating and moving around as normal. I'm keeping a close eye on her just in case. Thank goodness!

Meanwhile, I don't know if I overreacted or not at this point, but Frou-Frou didn't seem herself, so I've brought her in now. She was kind of uninterested in food and not moving around a whole lot, except for when I tossed some scratch to the girls. She seems fine now that she's inside, though... I'm wondering if our sudden heat here had something to do with it...

Betty filled her feed and water with shavings while scratching. Possibly a good sign? I'm pushing vitamin/electrolyte water and hoping for the best. She seems not to want to eat her pellets, but she has been finishing off all the cooked egg I give her, at least...

Emmy, I'm going to get some meat to to see if that will get her eating. I'm still hoping that this is stress from her move and that she'll eventually come out of it.


I'm gonna need a vacation after this vacation.

 

[TheChickenQueen]

That sounds like a mess within itself.

Hopefully everyone will be okay in the end and let you get a break.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

I can't imagine how stressful that must be. Having one sick animal completely stresses me out. Really hoping things start correcting themselves.