Pipd's Peeps!

[MollySunshine]

How sweet are they! Keiko too

 

[pattyhen]

Congrats to Edimon for her first eggs. It is a very nice green too.

The chicks just keep getting cuter and cuter now how is that possible.

Two crowers oh my goodness they are early bloomers that for sure.

Keiko is halarious. Be careful that cat could eat you out of house and home. Poor baby I'm glad you gave him a home.

We have rain today and it's in the forecast for like another week. We are going to have to build an ark if it keeps up. The ducks are happy the chickens and guineas aren't to happy with all this rain.

Take care and thanks so much for the pics I love the babies and wish I had some.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

How sweet are they!  Keiko too 

Thanks, they sure are sweet! And Keiko, well, she's Keiko.

Congrats to Edimon for her first eggs.  It is a very nice green too.  

The chicks just keep getting cuter and cuter now how is that possible.    Two crowers oh my goodness they are early bloomers that for sure.  

Keiko is halarious.  Be careful that cat could eat you out of house and home.  Poor baby I'm glad you gave him a home.  

We have rain today and it's in the forecast for like another week.  We are going to have to build an ark if it keeps up.  The ducks are happy the chickens and guineas aren't to happy with all this rain.  

Take care and thanks so much for the pics I love the babies and wish I had some.  

I learned something yesterday--Endymion is NOT laying her egg off the side of the hutch, she's jumping into the pen beneath it, laying it in there, and jumping out. I learned this only because I caught her in there being mean to the locked up broody-brood because she couldn't remember how to get out. That also means she hopped in there while Umru was in there to lay her first egg--CRAZY hen!!

We had some nasty rainy days, but now everything's frozen again. It's weird, because the ground had gotten soggy enough that now there are boot prints all over that are frozen in place. Makes it easy to trip while I'm out there! I'm honestly not sure I know which is worse, snow or MUD.








Still very worried about my babies... I'm not hearing very much crackling anymore while they breath (and this is just day 2 of Denagard!), but they seem to be eating less. I'm not sure if the antibiotics have their little tummies upset or if they're just not feeling good. I've been encouraging them to eat more by soaking some crumbles with their medicated water--works like a charm! They're still happy, flappy, bouncy, trouble-makin' little squirts like they've been from the start, so hopefully they'll all be fine in time.

 

[pattyhen]

We've had so much rain I can't remember the last time I saw the sun. We have been above freezing thats one good thing.

I hope little ones pull threw this and get all better. Maybe give them some chopped boiled eggs to get them to eat more. I've got another house guest. Autumn my EE hen. I found her crawling around on the coop floor not able to walk. I don't know if it's her foot, leg or her back. I've soaked her in epson salts water and put neo on her feet. I'm giving her the glucosomine too. She does not like being in the house at all. When these chicks were growing up I had so much trouble with Turbo the baby duck that I didn't get to spend enough time with them. The only one that doesn't mind being held is Nugget and she is the isa brown. I wish they could tell you what is wrong. She keeps climbing out of her container trying to walk. She poops like a horse.

I hope you have a great day and sending prayers up for the chicks to get better.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Sorry to hear that Autumn isn't doing well. Have you inspected her leg and foot thoroughly for injuries or bumbles? You could also try a baby vitamin (without iron) like Poly-Vi-Sol. Sometimes a vitamin deficiency can cause weakness in the legs. Here's hoping she starts feeling better--or at least gets used to her current housing and stops giving you trouble!

The babies seem to be doing fine, although I still worry. Baby A and Omega were looking a bit scrawny, but they seem to have caught up in size with the rest of them again. Manly-man Onesie seems big compared to the others, but mostly they're all the same size. I've been giving them a dish of wetted feed every day and they sure pound it down! Tomorrow is their last day on the Denagard, so if nothing else, I'll know soon if the medicine is upsetting their tummies or not. I got some plain yogurt today to give them once they're off their meds, so hopefully that will help, too. If not, I still have some Tylan I can give them a round of to see if that does anything. At the very least, no one is acting sick--they're all just as feisty and energetic as always! They've started setting their sights on the edge of the brooder and flying for it! Luckily, they never get anywhere close--I don't need peepers running loose around my room while I'm away at class!

Speaking of them, I'm about 90% sure right now that Omega and Lucky are both boys, along with Onesie, who I'm 100% sure of thanks to him crowing. Those two already have the biggest combs, so that's what I'm basing this guess off of. I'm also about 90% sure I'm going to keep Lucky's name and that I'm going to call little manly-man Onesie 'Manly Dan'. It's strange, but it's from a show I like, and ever since I started calling him my little manly-man, that's all I can think of as a name for him. I also have pretty much decided that Baby A's name will be Abie, either short for Abraham if she turns out to be a boy, or the feminine form 'Abra' (pronounced ABE-rah) if she really is a girl. Keeping my fingers crossed that she and Alphie are girls, or at least one of the two is! I definitely don't want 5 more roosters!


I have classes and homework due over the next two days, but will try to get pictures of the babies (and possibly the older girls, too) on Thursday. Can you believe the babies will be 2 weeks old by then? Didn't they just hatch out yesterday?!


Editing to add, I've been having some fun with the chicks and those old wives' tale chick sexing methods. See here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/an-experiment-in-chick-sexing-methods

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Baby pictures! They are getting so big!! First, the obligatory 2-week-old individual pictures:

Abie baby

Alphie the little ball of energy!

Lucky the stinker:

Little Omega:

And manly-man Onesie:

I am now beyond 100% without a doubt sure that Onesie is a boy--today, he is sporting some newly-sprouted wattles:

They are still as curious as ever, little darlings This is how they reacted when they saw me coming with the camera:

Gotta eat plenty if they want to keep up their shenanigans... You'll notice they are NOT eating from the shiny new feeder I got them, instead still preferring the coffee creamer jug bottom I cut off for their feed dish when they first hatched.

Here's Abie looking quite severe while I was hugging her.

Alphie and Abie being cute little stinkers!

And this last picture is terrible because I took it just as Alphie flew for it, but I thought it was kind of funny. Super Alphie, away!!

The babies are in for a surprise within the next few days. As you can probably tell from the pictures, they are getting too big for their brooder already, so it's time for a move! I haven't gotten all the details of their new setup figured out yet, but I'll update as things happen!


Meanwhile, the big girls outside are enjoying their first free-range of the year. They were so happy to get out that a few of them were flapping and flying all over! Silly girls! They will probably be free-ranging any afternoons I don't have class from now until it actually decides to be winter again. I figure as long as the weather stays warmer like this, why not let them have some fun?

 

[pattyhen]

Love the baby pictures. They are just to adoreable. I would love to hold them. They are getting bigger each time I see a pic of them. I can't wait to see their new brooder their going to love more space.

Glad your outside chickens got to be free for a while. The temps here are reaching 61 today I can't believe this crazy weather but I love the warm up. Now if we would just dry out a little. We've had way to much rain and everything is mud.

Have a great day and thanks so much for sharing the pics. I love the babies.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Oh my goodness, yes! I just got in from wading my way around to get the birds outside set up for the day. It rained so much last night that even usually solid areas of ground are now getting squishy. Getting to the coop requires wading through ankle-deep mud and water, and having my feet suction down every step. The dirt floor section of the coop has become saturated with water and even had a couple puddles in it that I filled with Sweet PDZ in a desperate attempt to dry it up. That's not even to mention the Guinea yard, which has become Lake Guinea. I've decided on my conundrum a few posts ago--MUD is DEFINITELY worse! I want to go back to snow! I don't even care if it's cold anymore! Please, Mother Nature, you've proven your point! Have mercy!! Have mercy!!!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

So I was looking through my pictures because I would swear there was one more that I had taken on Thursday... and as it turns out, I missed one! This is Onesie giving me a grumpy face.

The babies should be moving today. I have things around, just have to get the new brooder set up. It's a lovely, sunshiney day, so I may just take some pictures of the girls outside, too, in spite of the icky muddiness.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

They're all moved! That took a LOT more work than I thought, but I think it was worth it. Look at all the space!!

You might recognize this space from Crashie's bath times--yep, they're in the tub! I have their old bin that I can fill with water in the shower for Crashie to swim in. It's smaller, but I think Crash will survive.

On top of their move, they've made the switch to this strange new kind of bedding called 'pine shavings'. How peculiar!

It makes great camouflage for Alphie!

It didn't take them too long to figure out their feeder and waterer in this strange new setting.

...And it also didn't take them long to start doing this. Sigh...

The babies were enjoying all the room to stretch their wings!

They also gave me some suspicious looks for putting them in this strange place.

Their faces!! My little peeper posse:

Then, when it started getting dark, they gathered at the wall closest to me as if to say they were ready to go home now, thank you.

And Abie wasn't taking no for an answer!

Eventually, they settled down under their EcoGlow for the night. I hope they enjoy all the space. Until they outgrow that, too, of course. They just have to live in there until I'm sure the winter weather is over for sure, and then they can move out with the flock.



Meanwhile, I didn't get pictures outside because I was cleaning the tub for use, and building a cover (not shown in the pictures) to keep the babies safe in case a cat sneaks in there, and moving the stuff that had been stacked on the one edge of the tub, and everything else. But since it was so warm today, I took Donna and Roscoe outside for a flock visit. Donna was NOT happy. Roscoe sure enjoyed flirting with all the bigger girls, though. If it stays warm, I may start moving them back outside permanently. However, we usually have a deep freeze around this time of year, so I'm not expecting them to be ready to be outside if that happens.