Pipd's Peeps!

[Soon2BChixMom]

You take great pics! I also have to add that your chickens feet are pretty clean. What sort of substrate do you use for your runs? I haven't read all of the posts yet, just a few months back so maybe you free range?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

My girls do free-range, yes. Their run is huge, about 500 square feet, and they have lots of leaf litter to scratch through, so I think that's what keeps them relatively clean. I also use shavings in the coop and just throw them out into the yard when I clean out the coop, which I think helps with mud--but when we have a melt-off of snow and a ton of rain, it gets pretty mucky anyway!







Just went up and checked on the incubator, and surprise! Egg Un has hatched! Judging by how dry the baby is, it must have happened right after I checked on them last, about an hour and a half ago! Then I saw that comb and I thought--UH-OH! Is this a half-Silkie baby?! (Editing to add, my mind went there because Nadine hopped a fence about two weeks before I set the eggs, so it's been up in the air whether Reuben would father some of these chicks or not.) But no, it looks like a single comb that's just folded over.

In other news, I about had a heart attack when I couldn't find Elly in the coop tonight. And then I looked up...

Huka and Roha are regulars to the rafters (notice how the paint is worn off from them perching up there? ), but the big, heavy gals don't usually heft their large behinds up that high.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I woke up to peeping just now, and since the first four to hatch had settled down in the dark, I knew what that meant! Quatre has joined us!!

Since Quatre is out and Six hasn't pipped yet, I took the opportunity to get Un, Deux, Trois, and Cinq banded and moved to the brooder. They've settled right in under the EcoGlow for the night. Pictures to come in the morning!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

No change as of this morning, except I'm pretty sure I heard Six peeping, so potentially that's an internal pip? The brooder babies are not ready to come out from under the EcoGlow yet apparently, though they came out to step on my hand and poke at my fingers, which, I mean, is totally adorable, right? Anyway, I gave a couple of them some drinking lessons, but haven't messed with them too much yet. They're still running on yolk, so they'll be fine for now.

Here are a couple shots I grabbed with my phone of them peeking out from under the EcoGlow. This one showed all four of them, but Trois at the far left darted out in front of one of her siblings.

Guess who? Yup, Trois again. We've got a camera hog on our hands.

I'll get better pictures of them once they're all in the brooder and a bit more active.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I went ahead and moved Quatre to the brooder about an hour ago because she was peeping so much and seemed so distressed. Looks like that was none too soon, because Six just pipped!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Six has a beak! I don't know if it's just because this is the last one, or because of the timing of it pipping, but I'm feeling a bit impatient waiting for it to hatch! C'mon, Six, get a move on!!

Meanwhile, the other five are all tucked in for bed under the EcoGlow. They were a bit surprised by the camera flash in the dark.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

The waiting must be nerve racking.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

It definitely was, especially with all the things you read about that can go wrong during a hatch. I say 'was', because look who finally joined us!!

I may or may not have dozed off by the incubator ( ) and was just awoken by the distinct peeping of a freshly hatched baby. Six for six, and not a single Silkie mix after all! Better pictures of everyone to come tomorrow once little Six is dried and in the brooder!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Congrats!