Pipd's Peeps!

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Well, I thought I'd try moving Jack over with the cockerels this morning to reduce my pen count by one again. It's unfamiliar space to them, unfamiliar space to him, and they're young enough that I figured there wouldn't be much fighting... And I was wrong. The mixed color cockerel decided he didn't want to give up being king of the cockerels, and so he took on Jack, and he won. Jack, the rooster a full year older than all of them, let this little 4-month-old cockerel beat him up and chase him around! So, back to his cage he went, I guess.


We're already almost to the middle of October... No one seems interested in cockerels this year, sadly, so I've started to think about calling up to the processors for them. I really hate to do it, especially with my silkied Cochins, but I just can't keep all these boys. This is the hard part for me about hatching. I'll wait as long as I can with the hopes that someone might be interested, but I'd like for them to be out of here, one way or another, before winter sets in. At least if I do end up having them processed, I'll be able to have some nice chicken soup over the winter. It's been a while since I last had to process cockerels!

 

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What was I saying about before winter set in? Welcome to autumn in northern Indiana. We're at 2 inches and counting.

 

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What a mess it is out there! Snowy, but mild, but rainy! I was simultaneously overheating in my jacket and freezing my toes off out there! A bunch of trees have gone the shape of weeping willows from the snow weighing them down. My tarps over pens were full of snow and heavy! The netting is sagging now and I'm hoping it bounces back once the snow melts off and there's less weight on it. It's just a complete mess! We weren't even supposed to get any snow accumulation!!

 

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Tough morning. Looks like I'm going to lose Murphy anyway. He'd been having some crop issues accompanying his molt, as some of my other birds have in the past, but he seemed to be eating okay so I didn't mess with him too much beyond a crop massage or two and have just been keeping an eye on him otherwise. Unfortunately, since Friday I've been down with the flu, so haven't been doing more than the bare minimum with the birds because I've felt so lousy.

This morning, Murphy was laying on his side in his pen, alive, but weak. His crop presumably has not emptied overnight as there's still liquid in it, and he's unable to stand up. I don't think there's anything I can do to pull him out of this at this point. My poor big guy, I'm so upset I let this happen. After all of the rearranging I did to make sure I could keep him, I'm losing him anyway. He's been such an amazing rooster all these years, gentle and patient with me, stern but amicable with the other roosters. I just really like him and was hoping he'd stick around a few more years.

 

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Murphy has passed on, poor guy. I don't even know if I have the energy to properly see him off today. I'll miss his beauty, his wattle waving, and his deep, raspy crow among the squeaky bantam boys. Rest in peace, big guy.

 

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With Murphy gone, I've done a little rearranging and changed some decisions on who is to be kept and who isn't. Since I now have an open space, I've decided to keep Jack. He's a handsome guy and not worthy of an invitation to freezer camp just because no one is looking for roosters in my area at the moment. He and Winston have now moved into the pen that was occupied by Murphy, with a divider of course. Since I was having to move Winston to and from his daytime pen, this has made things just a tiny bit easier for me.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this here, my brain is not exactly working at full power still thanks to lingering flu symptoms, but I also settled on a name for Black 1 last week. Nothing fancy, just a simple name that seems to suit him: Dean.

Here are the four keeper cockerels keeping an eye on things yesterday as I got that pen cleaned up and rearranged for Winston and Jack. Dean at the back, next to Levi, then Zeke, then Wyatt closest to me. Wyatt's decided he's big man of the pen and the other three sort of fall in line with him, as you can see.

And just a quick picture from today, Gwenyth thinks herself an 'eggplant' apparently. Her wattles have started coming in recently, so perhaps this little eggplant actually will be producing eggs before too much longer!

 

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Happy Halloween, y'all

Been a rough week; feverish off and on, scratchy throat, persistent cough to the point of rib pain, and so. Many. Used. Tissues. I think I'm on the turnaround now, still fighting a cough and congestion, but feeling a bit more energetic at least.

Just wanted to post that our dear Gwenyth has been poking around at the nests these days. Maybe she will start laying soon!

Everyone else has slowed to a crawl with eggs, down to ~4 a day from all of my birds. Fortunately, I have not exactly been in the mood to cook this past week and a half anyway.


Oh, and I may have someone interested in Rosey finally, although I might just see if I can convince them to take one of the Cochin boys instead... Rosey's such a big butthead and those Cochin boys are so sweet, it's just a shame they're bound for the freezer without any interest in them. But I just can't keep all these boys!

 

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I caught Mack crowing this morning! He almost sounds like he's laughing.

 

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Gwenyth has started looking at the nest boxes and she even did a little bit of a partial squat for me when I reached toward her today!! Eggciting!

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Armada passed away rather suddenly today. Not sure what happened other than that she was not acting herself for a few days. No symptoms, respiratory or otherwise, other than having lost weight, and no symptoms in any other birds. She was a very unassuming hen without much interest in human contact, so I guess I just didn't realize how much weight she'd lost until it was too late. What a shame.

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Awe. Sorry to hear that.