Pipd's Peeps!

[drumstick diva]

So sorry you lost your duck-

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Thank you, Drumstick Diva. I was just popping in to say that I set 6 eggs from Trudi today, so hopefully we'll have some ducklings from those in early May. I have not had much luck hatching Calls, but I have a direct line to an expert this time ( ), so hopefully I'll have better luck this time.

I have eggs from the Dorkings and Silkied Cochins as well, but sort of hanging onto them for now in light of everything going on... I'm also shopping for a second incubator (I *wanted* another Octagon, but of course they stopped making them ), so if I get one within the next several days or so, those eggs should keep until then and I can use the new one to incubate them.

The kiddos are growing and growing, and getting antsy for more space than the brooder offers. It's been cold, windy, and rainy all day, and possible SNOW on the forecast again for Monday. So, they're brooder-bound again until the next warm up.

Just 3 weeks left in the semester. I have so much left to do!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Real quick, here are some pics of the kiddos today. They are 6 weeks old, and I'm pretty sure I'm ready to call it an even 50-50 on boys and girls! The little stinkers are impossible to get pictures of anymore, and so this set of pictures isn't too great, but at least it's something, right?

So, starting with the dinosaur as usual, here us Un:

Vivi, who turned her head on the only good shot I got of her! So, a second picture is included to show her sweet face.

Trois, who I am happy to finally officially introduce as Josephine, or Josey for short. I didn't get a picture of her with the statues today, though. I think last week's shot was the last one.

Quatre, the self-proclaimed, yet fair boss of the brooder. This is the best picture I got of him.

Cinq the hugger, who is officially named Mavis. I still have some reservations about being 100% sure on her being a pullet, but I've been calling her Mavis for long enough that it's stuck either way. Notice how she's in my lap, because if the brooder is open, she's the first in line for hugs.

And finally, little Sixer:

And, if you couldn't tell by the state of the brooder in these shots, it needed a cleanin', so I stopped there to do so. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for more outside time with the kids after tomorrow's possibility of snow! They really need to move out at this point--they're stir-crazy and pushing their limits in the brooder!!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Y'all, I didn't forget the pictures of the kiddos, but I've been distracted and haven't yet cropped and watermarked them. When I opened the duck coop this morning, I found li'l Trudi-Patooti laying in the corner, and sadly she had passed away. Malcolm is devastated, and watching him mourn has me absolutely heartbroken. Poor little guy was calling for her tonight after I closed up the coops for the night... Anyway, I'm exhausted, I've got classes in the morning, and a whole ton of stuff to do, so I will get those pictures posted eventually. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon, but no guarantees. Good night

Awe.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Your peeps are looking good!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Thanks, S2BC! We're finally, finally, FINALLY getting some warmer weather, so they got to spend a couple hours outside when I got back from class. They were so happy!




So, in other news, I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I've been looking into getting a second incubator as a hatcher. Well, lookie what my mom got for me!:

It's so swanky! I have it warming up now, thinking that the Dorking and silkied Cochin eggs I've been hanging onto can be the trial run for it.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

It's dead week! That doesn't mean I have nothing to do, of course, but we're almost done!

So, the kiddos are 7 weeks old! The weather is finally cooperating, so as of today, they are outside dawn to dusk in the coop addition with access to the mini yard! They are also a LOT easier to get pictures of when they're outside, so yay! Anyway, I put them out this morning, and by the time I checked on them a couple hours later, they were... still inside and not looking too interested in the outside world.

Mavis was enticed out by the idea of lap time...

...But she changed her mind.

So, I gave them some motivation. And by motivation, I mean I chased them out.

So, with them finally out, it was about a MILLION times easier to get pictures of them!! Here are their individual shots for the week:

Lots of extra pictures, because while it was easier to get their pictures--it required lots of waiting for them to come out from the bushes. Un took the most waiting time because all he wanted to do was sit on this vine:

"You got a problem with that?"

Then, for some inexplicable reason, he decided to climb a tree. And I do mean climb--it's at a slight angle and he was somehow able to walk up it to this point!

The other babies also enjoyed perching on the vine. Here's Six and his pretty eyes sitting on the same vine.

Vivi next to two of her brothers. Such a sweet face!

Mavis being a cutie.

Mavis was being a real ham.

"Who, me?"

Here she is sitting on my lap.

"GASP!" Yeah, I don't know.

This is what I mean when I say Mavis is the hugger. She snuggles right up next to me for her hugs.

While I was out there, I also grabbed a few pictures of the big girls. There were more, but they turned out terrible. So, here are the good ones. Miss Kate:

Cuter Scooter:

Abra, embodiment of all cuteness.

Seriously, how does one little bird get to be so cute?!

And one last shot of Malcolm, sitting in his little pool. Guess with the weather warming up it's about time to get out the bigger pool for him.

I set 6 eggs from the munchkins and 7 eggs from the Silver Gray Dorkings crossed to Darwin yesterday--three weeks to more fuzzies, hopefully! It unfortunately is looking like the duck eggs might be infertile, which is odd because they were definitely breeding... But, I'm leaving them in the bator until I can be sure...

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Un looks very regal. Will you keep any of the cockerels?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Haha, yeah, now that he's decided to feather in! I will most likely not keep any of these boys unless there's an exceptional personality in the group. Right now, I'm actually debating on two of the boys I already have, Tygo and Theodore, because they've started causing problems in the rooster flock, Tygo particularly. One or both may have to go, in which case that would open space up to keep one, maybe two of them... But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, especially with more eggs in the bator now.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Martins opens on May 17....