Thank you, it was a nice day of relaxing.
Tomorrow, I get to do all the fun stuff I usually do for my birthday. Every year, I visit this animal sanctuary for rescued big cats, bears, and other exotic animals, and then go bird watching in a very secretive nature reserve that hardly anyone has heard of.
Anyway, I got pictures of the babies when I opened the fence, but forgot to go out later to get their 10-week pictures, arg! Guess I'll have to do that tomorrow, too. I also got pictures of some of the big girls to share. Here we go!
I opened the fence there in the coop, and Rooska and Callette immediately checked it out. Something's different here...
Rooska took the first step through to the 'big girl' section of the coop. Endymion was still checking things out.
Once a few of them were up there, they started checking out the digs. They quickly found the feed pan!
Endymion and Callette approached the door and peered out into the 'big girl' yard. No one was impressed.
Umru must have forgotten what pine shavings were, because he looked so confused by them under the roosts.
Callette and Lydda stood attentively as Freema gave them the rules of the roost.
They soon made themselves at home in the big girl side of the coop.
Flury and Lydda took the first steps into the 'big girl' yard, where Mabel had to check them over and make sure they knew who was boss there!
Umru knocked over the oyster shell feeder.
"Wasn't me!"
While the babies played in the other part of the coop, tiny invaders infiltrated the baby side! (Both of the Silver Sebrights are here, but Scooter is mostly behind the feeder.)
Now, one may notice through all these pictures that someone is missing--Cazzie. (Izzy isn't fully in any of the pictures, either, but she is visible in the upper left corner of the first picture.) I stopped taking pictures here because Cazzie was nowhere to be found. After the past week I've had, my stomach sank at that, and I started to search around frantically. Eventually, my brother, who happened to walk out, spotted her ALL THE WAY at the back of the chick pen beyond the jungle they have in there, dust bathing and perfectly content to stay there. Heart attack averted.
All things considered, it went really well! I didn't see any pecking or chasing, just a lot of close looking and eating from the chick feeder.
I fenced off the smaller side of the coop for the night, but I'll be moving that first thing in the morning once the coop is open for the day. I think the babies will be fine, as long as Ben (and possibly Winter) are penned away in case they try grabbing those poor babies like they do with their sisters and mom!
Anyway, here are the pictures of the big girls I got while I was taking the above pictures:
Elly on a branch, giving me the sweetie face and asking for attention.
She spent a lot of time hanging out with the babies in the chick pen today. Never once pecked at them, the sweetheart. Of course, they gave her a wide berth either way.
The Partridge Rock sisters, being elegant as always. Fancy is in back, She Who Sleeps Standing Up in front.
Freema making sure I know how unhappy she is about me bringing home more of those little twerps!
I don't know why, but she's been letting the others pluck her neck a bit, so that's why she has that bare patch there. She never let it happen before this year. :/
Ihi the crazy Campine playing innocent on the roosts. Ben tried to grab her after I let him out of his pen to go to roost for the night, and she turned right around and kicked his lights out!
She walked off with a tuft of white Silkie feathers in her beak.
Miss Kate, hiding with shame her bandaged foot. I only had red tape to cover it with, and she's not happy about that!
Mabel the Welsummer, being serious. She'll keep those pullets in line, by golly!
Here's little miss Marka!
I tried to get pictures of the four Silkie youngsters today while I was at it, but Marky was the only one to cooperate.
Rangi the Ancona, enjoying the sun on this considerably cooler day.
And finally, Roha the Exchequer Leghorn posing pretty. She loves the lime light! (Yep, that's what's left of the crappy shade cover behind her.
)
