Pipd's Peeps!

[2ndTink]

Heehee, I'll keep you posted! I'm getting a sneaking suspicion that Judy might be the only one actually laying out of the girls I separated out to collect eggs from, so it might just end up being a whole batch of baby Judy Booties Hopefully Wyatt has been breeding his girls all this time so that the eggs will actually hatch!

yes! That's my gorgeous Judy Booty girl! I can't wait for you to set eggies!!!!!!! Oh my goodness, they are going to be such adorable floofs! I hope Wyatt has been doing his job also, we need Judy Booties hatching!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I have a second egg collected for the hatchalong now, most likely Judy's but I didn't catch anyone in the nest yesterday to confirm whose it is. Lots of eggs over in the other side of the coop from the birds I don't want to hatch from for my breeding program. I may set some of those eggs anyway just to have a decent hatch. I can always band those chicks as non-keepers if they do hatch.



Also, Nora's scab fell off yesterday! I don't think anyone pecked it off as they've all been leaving her alone thus far, but someone must have pecked her head afterward because there was blood there at roost time last night. I'll spoiler these pictures for the blood, but she is okay, does not look like she's been beaten up on again or anything, and she does not seem to be being harassed or pecked at now. I think someone just pecked her once and it started to bleed again, as the scalp and comb tend to bleed a lot even with minor abrasions. I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on things today to be sure!

Spoiler: pictures

 

[2ndTink]

I have a second egg collected for the hatchalong now, most likely Judy's but I didn't catch anyone in the nest yesterday to confirm whose it is. Lots of eggs over in the other side of the coop from the birds I don't want to hatch from for my breeding program. I may set some of those eggs anyway just to have a decent hatch. I can always band those chicks as non-keepers if they do hatch.



Also, Nora's scab fell off yesterday! I don't think anyone pecked it off as they've all been leaving her alone thus far, but someone must have pecked her head afterward because there was blood there at roost time last night. I'll spoiler these pictures for the blood, but she is okay, does not look like she's been beaten up on again or anything, and she does not seem to be being harassed or pecked at now. I think someone just pecked her once and it started to bleed again, as the scalp and comb tend to bleed a lot even with minor abrasions. I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on things today to be sure!

Spoiler: pictures

View attachment 3765647View attachment 3765648

Awe, Miss Nora, her eye is looking so much better. I hope that new scab heals quickly, I'm glad she's not being picked on

Go Judy! I need you to give Pipd a lot of eggs so I can see all your chickie Booties hatch!

 

[fluffycrow]

I have a second egg collected for the hatchalong now, most likely Judy's but I didn't catch anyone in the nest yesterday to confirm whose it is. Lots of eggs over in the other side of the coop from the birds I don't want to hatch from for my breeding program. I may set some of those eggs anyway just to have a decent hatch. I can always band those chicks as non-keepers if they do hatch.



Also, Nora's scab fell off yesterday! I don't think anyone pecked it off as they've all been leaving her alone thus far, but someone must have pecked her head afterward because there was blood there at roost time last night. I'll spoiler these pictures for the blood, but she is okay, does not look like she's been beaten up on again or anything, and she does not seem to be being harassed or pecked at now. I think someone just pecked her once and it started to bleed again, as the scalp and comb tend to bleed a lot even with minor abrasions. I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on things today to be sure!

Spoiler: pictures

View attachment 3765647View attachment 3765648

Sending as much of a laying vibe as I can, don't have too much of it right now either. Hopefully Judy proves to be a stable producer, and remains healthy while providing you with eggs to hatch!

Nora looks as fabulous as always, hopefully she doesn't get any more nasty pecks. Poor girl's been through enough!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Nora did great yesterday and I didn't see any picking or bullying, so I think she's fine now. I also caught her in the nest boxes yesterday--she laid her first egg and even did it in the proper location!! What a smart young lady! One of the other Cochin pullets has been laying her eggs on the floor at the corner of the deck, another one in the hutch that I use as a broody buster or integration pen, so apparently laying in the nest boxes is hard to figure out.

Sending as much of a laying vibe as I can, don't have too much of it right now either. Hopefully Judy proves to be a stable producer, and remains healthy while providing you with eggs to hatch!

Definitely, I'd rather slow and steady layers than high production from my birds! A couple of the Cochin pullets I hatched last year went into lay super early for Cochins, which was actually pretty alarming for me. I don't necessarily want to wait a full year to see eggs from them as some of them have done to me, but 5-6 months is way too young for Cochins to be laying!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

So, a few days ago, Coco in the corner coop laid an egg that was mostly soft and shell-less, which reminded me that I never put their calcium tub back in there after they finished laying for the winter. Whoops! Instead of using their old tub that was small and they were always dumping and kicking everywhere, I got a milk jug and rinsed it out, cut some holes in the side, and put their oyster shell in that instead. Those birds are terrified of it.

This morning, I opened their pop door and, as usual, Coco, Bella, and the yet-unnamed birthday pullet all darted out the door to get past the scary calcium container as fast as possible. No sign of Pete, but I could hear him shifting around in the coop, so I wasn't worried. I figured he just needed to gather his nerves, but would brave darting past the scary calcium container eventually.

About 5-10 minutes later, I was finishing up and just double-checking that everyone had everything they needed for the day. Still no sign of Pete outside of the coop, but I could hear shuffling around in the coop so I knew he was alive at least. The window by the perch still has a feed bag stapled over half of it for the winter, so I couldn't really see the perch to see what Pete was doing. Thinking maybe he got his foot caught or something, I figured I'd better check.

As soon as I opened the human door to peek in, I hear Pete's typical 'byark-urk-urk?' from... somewhere. I step in because I didn't see him at first, and there he was, stuck behind one of the nest boxes.

Their coop was built for ducks originally, so it doesn't really have a proper nest box setup, it has a low shelf that is now their dropping board for their perch, which underneath was a communal nest box for the ducks but I put two of my bucket nests under there for the chickens to use. Because of this setup, there's a narrow gap, about 3-4 inches wide, behind and next to the nest boxes. A stud in the wall was blocking him from just walking out the front way, and apparently he couldn't figure out how to back up and go back around the bucket. So there he was, stuck, head peeking out from behind there, looking rather sheepishly toward me for help.

I moved the nest box and he walked out looking, well, less than proud of himself, then puffed himself up outside and joined his ladies to dance and chirp for them. I guess the girls not witnessing the whole thing was enough to keep Pete from being embarrassed for too long. Goofy rooster!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

2 cockerels and 6 pullets out of my non-keeper silkied Cochin bantams went to their new home today. I'm a little sad, I do rather love these birds, but I'm happy with the home they're headed to and hopeful that they'll be just as charming for that family and maybe build up even more interest in the variety. And my coop should feel a little less snug as a result, especially in the section the cockerels have been living in.

More room for future babies!!

 

[fluffycrow]

Nora did great yesterday and I didn't see any picking or bullying, so I think she's fine now. I also caught her in the nest boxes yesterday--she laid her first egg and even did it in the proper location!! What a smart young lady! One of the other Cochin pullets has been laying her eggs on the floor at the corner of the deck, another one in the hutch that I use as a broody buster or integration pen, so apparently laying in the nest boxes is hard to figure out.




Definitely, I'd rather slow and steady layers than high production from my birds! A couple of the Cochin pullets I hatched last year went into lay super early for Cochins, which was actually pretty alarming for me. I don't necessarily want to wait a full year to see eggs from them as some of them have done to me, but 5-6 months is way too young for Cochins to be laying!

Yup, for cochins that does seem young. It's so cool/interesting/funny how much we differ in some cases based on the breeds we keep. 6 months would be perfect for the Tsouloufates. Had some pullets that started at 5, and I wasn't very pleased. Serama? Had one laying by 4 months old, something that I hear is rather common. Thankfully the other two waited another month or so. I'm content with these ages. I wouldn't like for them to drop even more (the first generation of Tsouloufates started at 6 to 7 months, for instance), but I'm good with those ages. Prioritising health over egg laying is so important! Too frequent, or too early of an egg laying cycle, and it is extremely damaging for the female

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Oh my goodness, 4 months?? That's still a baby!! I probably would have fainted!

It is pretty interesting how different the age of point of lay feels depending on the breed, though. Like, most of the breeds I get nowadays are pretty slow to mature, so I don't expect to see eggs until 8 months or later. Nora was just a few days past the 8 month mark with her first egg, for example, and that was perfect to me. But if I had something like a Leghorn pullet, I would expect egg laying to start closer to 5 months, not because I necessarily wanted her to lay that early but just because of the breed being one that is generally earlier to lay.

I did debate point of lay being a culling point for a little bit last fall. It seems to me like my birds with better type tend to lay later anyway, though. I think Duckling is the only exception. She laid very early for her breed, I believe just a little over 5 months of age when she did, but she also has surprised me with how well she's blossomed lately. She's a very good example of why you don't cull too early with Cochins! Had she not fallen into the duck pool and gotten me attached to her because of the extra attention she needed as a result, she likely would have been on my cull list for type. And look at her now!

 

[fluffycrow]

Oh my goodness, 4 months?? That's still a baby!! I probably would have fainted!

It is pretty interesting how different the age of point of lay feels depending on the breed, though. Like, most of the breeds I get nowadays are pretty slow to mature, so I don't expect to see eggs until 8 months or later. Nora was just a few days past the 8 month mark with her first egg, for example, and that was perfect to me. But if I had something like a Leghorn pullet, I would expect egg laying to start closer to 5 months, not because I necessarily wanted her to lay that early but just because of the breed being one that is generally earlier to lay.

I did debate point of lay being a culling point for a little bit last fall. It seems to me like my birds with better type tend to lay later anyway, though. I think Duckling is the only exception. She laid very early for her breed, I believe just a little over 5 months of age when she did, but she also has surprised me with how well she's blossomed lately. She's a very good example of why you don't cull too early with Cochins! Had she not fallen into the duck pool and gotten me attached to her because of the extra attention she needed as a result, she likely would have been on my cull list for type. And look at her now!

View attachment 3767568

Duckling is so pretty ! She's matured very nicely! I do see why you'd want to evaluate birds much later...slow maturing breeds test your patience! I probably couldn't have waited as much as you do, I admire your patience! I will say that four months was a little shocking for me as well, but with the serama I better get used to it