Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I have time between classes, so I thought I'd throw together a quick update! First off, Crashie spent the night outside in the duck coop last night! And, whether she likes it or not, she survived! She seems to be eating as normal and has been enjoying playing in mud puddles, but she refuses to get into the duck pool so far. She's been letting Malcolm stand within inches of her, though, which is a huge improvement on when I first started with this endeavor! My little ducky's finally leaving the nest!!

With some of the roosters gone, this cleared up some pen space, so last night I moved Roscoe and the boys from their 4x4 pen with makeshift attached mini-yard to a 4x8 pen to rotate with the three big roosters in the rooster yard. They are so far content with all the space even inside their pen, although after I closed them in and let the other boys loose, Roscoe took a dip in their water bucket while sparring with Dante through the fence.

Speaking of the kids, the pullets are starting to get that perching urge and are preferring to fly up with the big girls at night rather than pile in their crate. The big girls are pretty cutthroat in the morning, though, so I'm having to move them to the addition and close it off so they aren't flattened in there. Here's a cute cell pic of Roxy, Sylvie, Ida, and Vira on the door between the main coop and the addition a couple days ago. Ida (who has her head up above everyone else) is such a bossy little baby! I had to move Roxy to the end so that Ida wasn't pecking at her in order to get this picture.

And over with the Guineas, well... Guineas are Guineas. I had to rescue one of the boys last night because he was trapped! ...In the little yard I had set up for the chicks a few months ago, whose fence is about 2-1/2 feet tall.

Welp, I think that's about it over here... And I still have about an hour and a half until my next class. Guess I'll be around!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Where did you get the white fencing?
I saw guineas for the first time when I went to pick up my roo. Very interesting birds!

 

[shadow rabbit10]

The white chicken with the glowing eyes in the background of that second picture looks so ominous lol.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Where did you get the white fencing?
I saw guineas for the first time when I went to pick up my roo. Very interesting birds!

Oh, we got those years ago, even before the chickens! I believe they were purchased from Petco or Petsmart, one of those big pet stores, in the small animals section. But they've had lots of mileage with the birds. One of them is what I make the brooder out of every year, and the other is used for initial trips outside with the chicks.

Interesting, that's a good word for Guineas. I've had them for about 9 years now. Dumbest creatures I have ever dealt with, if getting trapped in a ~2.5-foot-tall fence isn't evidence enough of that. They do add a bit of exotic interest to the yard, though! I made an article about them a couple years ago, if you want to see more of them. I haven't updated it pretty much since I made it, and there have been a couple more losses since then, but it sums up what it's like with Guineas around here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/pipds-peeps-the-guinea-fowl-boys.72224/

The white chicken with the glowing eyes in the background of that second picture looks so ominous lol.

Yeah, I think that's Mako. She's one of the hardest to get good pictures of, I guess even when she's in the background! I thought Fancy looked quite scary back there, too, like she's giving Ida a piercing, evil glare!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I've been working on updating my flock page since thinning down the rooster boys, and I'm pretty sure it's complete (except for Mr. Purple band isn't up yet), if anyone is all that interested. It's just simple profiles of the birds, their hatch date, origins, nicknames, etc. All of the pages for the individual birds are WAY out of date, though, so they're pretty terrible. That's my next project on here, I think. Anyway, here's the flock page: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/pipds-peeps.72248/

Working through fixing the pictures, I realized that quite a few of those pics are outdated, and some are just terrible. So, that seemed like a good enough reason for me to take some pictures today. I got some update pics of the babies, too, except for Rufus and Russell because by the time I got to them I had been so chewed on by mosquitoes that I just couldn't take it anymore! So, anyway, I have pictures of all of the babies except for them, and some of the birds who needed picture updates for the flock page. I'll be updating those today, too.

Starting with Roxy, who is 18 weeks old:

She was being a real stinker, so I have a couple shots of her in my attempt to get a decent side-profile of her.

That included a HARD STARE.

Now, the 17-weekers. Here is Bryony (with a branch in front of her, of course). Bry's a big girl compared to the rest!

Ida, AKA Sassy Pants II!

Kita, who was incredibly difficult to get a picture of as always! She's got a tail feather out of place right now. Maybe a juvenile molt?

Sweet Myrna, who always poses so nicely.

Sylvie She's so precious! With Dorking tail feathers in the foreground, there.

Vira, who is smaller, but otherwise very similar in appearance to Bryony now that her eyebrows are molting out. She still has a slight brow on this side, which was the only way I could tell this was her picture.

And Mr. Purple Band, who would not let me anywhere near him, so this is all I got.

Now, some of the older gals. Here's the best picture I could get of Donna after following her around for what felt like forever.

Pretty Perdita

Maggie, somewhat in molt, but probably the best picture I've ever gotten of her.

Mavis I wish she would pose better, though! She always starts to squat when I try to get her picture!

Vivienne, looking lovely and shiny

Cuter Scooter She looks so good after her molt!

Mr. Manly Man Roscoe, what a stud!

And lastly, Elda, who always gives me faces like this when I am busy taking pictures and won't let her sit in my lap.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Well, it's been an exciting evening! I went outside an hour or two before cooping up time because the girls were stirred up. They've been going off like this for no apparent reason, so I didn't take it too seriously, except for this time the girls were all hiding under the lilac bush, which is a big red flag for me. Sure enough, a little hawk was sitting in the clump of trees across the driveway from the coop and it took off flying when it saw me. It was small, so I suspect it was a Sharp-Shinned. We have issues with the larger Cooper's hawks, but the Sharpies haven't been an issue yet, knock on wood.

Anyway, so the hawk flew off and I just took a peek around to make sure everyone seemed okay, when I noticed that only 6 of the 7 pullets were running around and Bryony was nowhere to be seen. So, naturally, my heart jumped to my throat! But, after running around like a maniac looking for her, I finally found her safe and sound, behind the nest boxes in the coop where some of the pullets have been piling to sleep at night. Goodness, she about gave me a heart attack!

A little bit later, when I went out to close the coops, I heard those distinct, croaky baby clucks that the kids have started doing now that they've grown out of their peeps, except for it was above my head. Sure enough, there was Myrna, wandering around on the roof of the coop!

It took me a bit, but I finally convinced her to come down. Now, everyone is safe and sound and the coops are closed for the night, so hopefully there won't be any more excitement tonight.


Oh, and I did bring Crash back inside for tonight. I'm afraid she might not be eating as she should. She felt a bit light when I picked her up to put her in the duck coop with Malcolm. I think I may go back to bringing her in overnight, at least for now, just to be safe.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

What an exciting evening for you!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Haha, yeah! I could do with a little less of that kind of excitement, though!



Well, I've done it! Here is a shiny new page all about my Dorkings! I intend to write a few more pages about my Cochins, Marans, Plymouth Rocks, and other breeds, but I may just edit some older pages for some of those, since those old pages aren't being updated anyway. Anyway, enjoy: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/pipds-peeps-the-dorkings.74372/

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

What's your favorite chicken breed?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Definitely the Dorkings. They are the biggest, sweetest, most huggable, lovable lugs you'll ever meet. They're just the best for pet hens. Cochins come in at a close second, especially the bantams. Those little banties are so stinkin' cute, but full of attitude!