Pipd's Peeps!

[shadow rabbit10]

I'm pretty sure Reuben will sort himself out with age. He has the right attitude for it, he just seems to have hit that time in his life when the hormones are raging and he can't control himself. My little Cochin bantam boy, Po, went through this as well, though admittedly not as focused on one single hen, but he was much better behaved after he had the chance to cool his heels in confinement for some time. Whatever it takes.

The Guinea boy has not shown up yet, and I think it's pretty safe to say at this point that something got him. It's just too quiet out in the woods for a Guinea to be wandering around out there.

I was wrong about which one; it was one of the younger Guineas that vanished. Both older boys are still present. I thought, since the one that vanished was one of the two I couldn't tell apart, that I might as well name the remaining unnamed Guinea, but then I realized that he and Low Man are nearly identical, the only distinguishing feature being feather quality; Low Man frequently has broken feathers because, as his name implies, he is the low man of the flock. So I guess they will just be the flat-wattle twins.

I don't even know.



I just had to catch my Fayoumi, Marama, who had jumped the fence into the NO CHICKEN ZONE, otherwise known as the driveway. She caught one of the driveway puddle frogs (

), and thought I was going to take it from her. A game of chicken football ensued, with me as an unwilling player.

I finally caught her after just letting her finish her froggy treat, after which she panicked and pooped down my side.

I sat with her to calm her down, and was sassed by the sassiest mouth of the flock. I then returned her to where she belonged, which was cause for more sassing. Oh, Marama.

I wish I could spend more time with my girls. Every time I do, they remind me why I adore them. Sigh. But it won't be too much longer before I'm out of school, and maybe then I'll have a little more free time for them besides what I can sneak in the morning and evening.

Haha. Sounds chaotic. Ah how chickens love to push our buttons! But they are fascinating animals.

 

[PouleNoire]

Oh Rueben, Rueben, Rueben he'll get it some day

! Oh and Marama...she thought she could get away with it this time! Good luck with your flock!

 

[PouleNoire]

Oh and p.s. looks like your flowers are coming along nicely! There so lovely!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Building supplies!! So, it's down to the wire for timing before winter, but we're finally going to get the Guinea enclosure rebuilt! Where they're at doesn't give them enough room, I think, and their coop is the original coop that we built when we first got chickens, 10+ years ago. It's basically rotting around them right now, the roof leaks, there isn't enough ventilation, and it's just too small for 10 Guineas.

I have rough plans... They're kind of crappily scribbled up on MS Paint, but it gives y'all the general idea. Their current layout is this picture. Red is their current coop (it's 4x8 feet), dark red is the aviary with a floor and solid roof (8x8 feet), and gray is the lower area with access to dirt and a wire roof:

The plan is to move the lower area off to the side, with a 2x4 between it and the aviary to hold up bird netting. The area between the lower area and the coop is to be fenced, and the bird netting will attach to it. The aviary will then be walled in and converted to a coop (the odd purple rectangles are where windows will go), and the old coop scrapped.

I'll try to keep up with updates on the build. For now, we've got the fence and netting to move the lower area out, and some plywood to start walling in the aviary. Next step is to start collecting plywood to finish walling it in, and then cut the doors and windows and wire them for predator protection. This is going to make wintering them SO much easier!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Aaaand I took about a bajillion pictures today. But I'll not dump them all here just yet. For now, here's what Crash and I got up to today! I swore up and down that I would work on a more sturdy pen for her to spend her days in, and then I didn't do it. But I did clean out her brooder and replace it with a dog crate for nighttime sleeping. The pool that was her brooder is now her bath time pool. She seems to approve:

GLURB!!

And, wings!

Hmmm... Look familiar?

Anyway, after bath time, she and I spent some time hanging around with the girls. She laid on all the cuteness:

She spent a very brief time on my lap, because apparently she had things to do and places to go.

We took a walk in the woods where the girls were free-ranging. It's so lovely out here!

The scenery seemed to suit her well.

She spent some time in the bushes trying to give me a heart attack. (Don't believe the innocent face. )

Then, when I headed back for the coop, she was trapped by an impassable obstacle!

The girls are entirely unimpressed with her, by the way. Here's Scooter the Silver Sebright thinking about running her off.

This picture just makes me laugh. My Speckled Sussex Poggy is thinking, "What the heck is that thing?!" (Crashie was playing in the mud.)

Anyway... I'll probably get the rest of the pictures uploaded over the next week... Probably...

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Crashie is so pretty! Love the last picture!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

What a loooong day! We worked much of the afternoon to get the first stage of the Guinea coop rebuild done. The yard portion is now set up, with roughly twice the outside space as what they had before. Next step will be to start walling in the aviary to make their coop. I'm flat out exhausted, and I didn't even do the heavy lifting! The credit for that goes to my brother and dad, who, thank goodness, are not as big of wusses as I am.


So, since I'm here, round 2 of pictures from yesterday! Let's start out with some Dorking love. Notice Elly in the background giving me looks?

She came a little closer to give me more dirty looks. My best guess is this is her showing her disapproval of the little ducky that was following me around at the time.

It only took a little reassurance before she seemed to get over it.

Then, she was on my lap like usual.

And, of course, having a preen while she was at it.

Meanwhile, about half of the hens had packed under the lilac bush, which has become their favorite hangout spot now that they can't get to their forsythia bush. This is Margaret the Silkie, Poggy the Speckled Sussex, and Wynne the Easter-egger in sight. Kate, Sora, Merlin, and I think one of the Wyandottes were in the background.

The Silver Sebrights booked it past while I was sitting there. Frannie is up front, with Scooter scooting it along in the background. And Elda decided to put her head up just as I took this picture, so that pinkish blob in the corner is her comb.

Poor little Frannie is in a rough molt. :/ You can see some pretty new feathers coming in on her throat here, though.

Tilde the Swedish Flower Hen having a drink. I think it's about time to give her a crest trimming!

Cressida, literally 2 feet from where Tilde was drinking from clean water, had chosen to drink from a mud puddle. Because, well, chickens. As a side note, she is looking lovely after her molt!

Merlin, looking serious as always.

And Ani Wyandotte. She's over looking glamorous for pictures.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Lovely pictures as always! Poor molting girls. Tis the season for molting I suppose. My girls just finished their molts. And you can't blame Cressida. Why drink from clean water when there's that lovely, stagnant, brown puddle right in front of her? I'm afraid that is one chicken mystery that will never be solved.

And gosh, your Dorkings are so beautiful! Overtime I see pictures of them I just can't get over how pretty they are! And they seem like they've got loads of personality. You're really making me want to get some!

 

[PouleNoire]

I agree beautiful pics! My girls are not molting. I can understand why the younger chicks aren't, maybe it's just a first year thing? Oh well, anyway Cressida I guess just prefers muddy brown water over nice clean clear water

!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Lovely pictures as always! Poor molting girls. Tis the season for molting I suppose. My girls just finished their molts. And you can't blame Cressida. Why drink from clean water when there's that lovely, stagnant, brown puddle right in front of her? I'm afraid that is one chicken mystery that will never be solved.   And gosh, your Dorkings are so beautiful! Overtime I see pictures of them I just can't get over how pretty they are! And they seem like they've got loads of personality. You're really making me want to get some!

Come to the Dork side!


But seriously, I really do love Dorkings. They're easily my favorite breed. They've just been so calm and lovable right from the get-go. The only time they've ever avoided me is during their molt, understandably, but even then, they just can't resist lap time! And you're right, they're just beautiful! But I'm biased; silver wildtype partridge is among my favorite patterns on hens.

I agree beautiful pics!  My girls are not molting.  I can understand why the younger chicks aren't, maybe it's just a first year thing?  Oh well, anyway Cressida I guess just prefers muddy brown water over nice clean clear water !  

Yeah, I have noticed that my young hens don't have a full molt until their second fall if they're born in the spring. Unfortunately for my girls, they're all beyond that point, so they're all in various stages of molting. And clean water is overrated, don't you know? Silly hens.