Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

All right! Time for a peeper picture overload!! Here are the individual shots I've been meaning to get of them! First, the Dorkings!

Pink band Dorking. I'm relatively sure this little lady is going to be my Myrna.

White band Dorking. She's so bright-eyed and perky, and she's such a sweetie, too. Gotta come up with the perfect name for her!

Now, the Mottled Cochin babies. I took pictures of them from the side and from above, as well as some face shots of a couple of them who have some interesting patterns I didn't want to miss. They are in alphabetical order by leg band color--no names until I know who's male and who's female, of course!

Blue band baby. She has a tiny black blotch under her left eye, hence the face picture.

Green band baby. She's got freckles!

Orange band baby. She's the lightest colored overall; these pictures actually make her look darker than she really is. She only has a little black and is more silvery-gray overall in her blotches.

Purple band baby. Look at that grumpy face! The close-up face shot is so that you can see the little black spot she has on the side of her head.

White band baby. She has black blotches over her nostrils, of all places!

Yellow band baby. As you can see, she's a fast-featherer! Actually, I was surprised to find that when I looked more closely, most of them have the staggered wing pins characteristic of fast-feathering.

And here they are having a party in the baby bin that they have totally trashed at this point. I'm thinking tomorrow might just be moving day, over to the big brooder with the munchkin squad.

And speaking of the munchkin squad, here are some pictures of them, too!

Grumpy-gills.

Blue band laying on the cute

Cute beepers!!

Pink band, who couldn't stay still for 2 more seconds, oh no! Heaven forbid I get a clear shot of him!

This face!! He's looking REEEEEAL close at the camera lens.

And, 90% of the time, here's what they want to do when I try to take pictures.

Kung-fu munchkin!

Okay, so now that I've typed this post on the wrong thread and nearly posted it there... Enjoy!

EDIT: Welp, apparently copy / pasting from a different thread doesn't work. Hang on while I re-upload all these pictures.


EDIT 2: Okay, that should do it. Yup. Enjoy!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

How about some terrible pictures from today? I used my cell to capture the moments following moving the new babies to the brooder with the munchkin squad (with fence in between, just in case), and they really turned out badly, but I suppose they're okay enough to share...

Here they are right after I moved them. Note the confusion.

It only took a little time and me showing them the new digs for them to start to get comfortable, though.

Myrna being a cuddle bug

Blue band peeper looking around.

Cuteness lineup!

This right here is why I love Dorkings so much. White band Dork just made herself at home in my hand.

And it wasn't long before the Cochin party began again. See all the food they've spilled already?

Meanwhile, the munchkin squad seemed quite curious about their new roomies...

...And then they went back to scratching and playing as usual.

But, I did find them piled along the fence between them and the beepers tonight when I went to check on them. They wanted to go to bed with their new buddies. I want to give the little ones more time to get used to things and make sure they're sturdy before I let them mingle, so I moved the boys over to their own EcoGlow for the night.

Here's how the little ones were at bed time. Night-night, darlings.

And a bonus pic of Mavis with her neck stretched out over my shoulder to cuddle. The face of the rooster on my shirt in this pic has me giggling.

I really need to get out there and get some pictures of those kids. They're integrated into the big girl flock now, and the big girls can be a bit tough on them, but they're doing great anyway. They're 12 weeks old this weekend, so for sure I'll get pictures then!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Lots of pictures today!! So, since the munchkin kids were piled against the fence the night after the last set of pictures, and the little beepers did the same thing last night, I thought I would give them some supervised time without the fence between them. Glad I supervised, because little Blue band was actually surprisingly aggressive with the little ones! He wasn't too bad, just went out of his way to peck their heads any time they were too close. Brat! So, they're fenced off again, but I'll be giving them time to mingle while I'm up there with them so that I can make sure no one gets hurt.

Here they are mingling. One week's difference and those munchkins look HUGE compared to the Mottled beepers!

Even the Dorks look tiny beside them! But, I'm sure they'll catch up faster than I'll know it.

The munchkins were fascinated by the little ones' feed dish for some reason. They shared at first...

...Then slowly took over...

...And then decided it was perfect for a dust bath! Here's hoping the beepers don't get the same idea from seeing this!!

So, since Blue band baby was being a brat, I put the fence up again. Here's how they reacted--they piled by the fence!

Naughty Blue band baby!

Pink and White were perfectly sweet, of course. Pinkie has always been the sweetest, though!

White. Hmmm... Looking at that comb compared to Blue and Pink... Dare I even suggest I may have gotten a girl after all?

Gotta fuel up after all that fun.

Back to the little beepers, they were laying on the cute extra thick today! Lots of shenanigans on the EcoGlow today!

Comin' through!

These faces.

Not to worry, the product inspectors are on the job to make sure the EcoGlow can handle this sort of wear and tear.

Green band baby I just love those freckles!

Totally serious Orange band baby.

Blue band baby bottom!

Little White band Dorky. I'm thinking of naming her Nikita, Kita for short, as a shout out to her late big sister, Kit.

I LOVE DORKINGS!! (White band baby is the one with the grumpy face here. Myrna's just kind of hanging out. )

Just I can't even process how adorable this face is.

Sleepy beepers. I think that's it.

 

[shadow rabbit10]

Hope your week is going well. The babies are adorable. Those mottled cochins were a surprise though!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Thanks, Shadow Rabbit! Haha, they sure were! Hard to pass up such sweet babies, though.





So, the weekend's come and passed already. WOW, the days are flying by! I didn't forget, though! Here are the pictures of the 12 weekers outside! Y'all aren't going to recognize them! Those little babies have sure grown! First up, the individual shots (Yup, Un is still tailless!) :

Not too many more because it was HOT and suffocatingly MUGGY out today! But here are the other shots I got. These boys sure are getting handsome...

Well, you know, mostly.

Mavey sweetie. You can't see it in the above picture of her, but Josephine is also getting these creamy-white feathers coming in. Near as I can tell, this is Birchen plus Mahogany (the gene that makes Black Copper such a deep, coppery color). So, this would seem to be confirmation that Murphy is 'golden' (i.e. carrying one copy of Silver; he would not have produced a copper son (Un) if he was carrying two copies).

What was I saying about handsome boys? Quatre sure fits that description!

One last shot of Mavis. She's a sweetie, despite how grumpy this picture makes her look.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Happy June, y'all! I'm still alive! Been busy working on remodeling the inside of the coop! We put the last little finishing touch in this morning, and I grabbed a few shots! Basically, we've converted the roosts from a regular ladder system to a dropping tray system. For those unaware of what this is, this thread has a lot of explanation and pictures: https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...t-warning-graphic-gross-poop-pictures.621363/

It took me a while to decide if this was it for me. I may have discussed it earlier in this thread (I actually drew up the plans and such around December or January, I think), but it was becoming a backbreaking chore to clean the coop out every weekend as I had been doing. My philosophy is that if something I'm doing with these birds is so much of a chore that I tend to want to put it off, then it needs to be changed. I believe the dropping tray system will remedy this, as it will eliminate the 'backbreaking' part, and though it needs to be cleaned more often than once a week as I had been doing before, it's still not a daily chore like sand was as a bedding. Not sure how much I've discussed sand here, but I used it for a few years and grew to HATE it. The dust, the stink, having to replace ammonia-smelling sand frequently by lugging huge bags of sand around, and then not having anything to do with said sand because it doesn't compost... Yeah, it did nothing for me. Anyway, here is how it looked at the beginning of this week (with some support boards tacked in for the trays). Don't mind the mess--those back walls are stained at this point...

Here are the old nest boxes (an old picture, if you couldn't tell by how clean it is! ):

And here is how the nests look now! We converted the top row of nests into a dropping tray, and continued that tray around the coop in a sort of 'J' shape. (This is after a night's use, so there are droppings in the trays )

That did lower the nest count to only 4, so we put a shelf under the tray opposite from this for 6 additional nests:

And the portion closest to the door is 8 inches lower and there are steps to the nests, both to make things a bit easier for some of the older hens who can't jump so high. Perdita also benefits from this, as she uses those to sleep because she isn't able to get to the upper roosts. Wynne is modeling them here:

And a view from above (more droppings, sorry! ) There is nothing underneath that middle section of the tray, so that if I decide to later on I can put a hanging feeder or something under there.

News from the brooder, last weekend, the beeper babies had their first exposure to some dry soil, so they should be set to head outside for the first time this weekend--if the weather holds! Little Orange band Mottled Cochin baby joined the Silkied boys in the 'Early Crower' club as of a couple days ago, confirming that he's male. I'm pretty sure Purple band is also male, just by his attitude. White band Silkied Cochin still has me wondering if she's a pullet after all, so hopefully she and the Dorks will be joined by some Mottled girls, too. They are all happily mingling now, and the little beepers are holding their own just fine. In fact, little Purple band beeper has actually WON a few sparring matches with the big Silkied boys! With the remodel of the big girl coop, I haven't had the chance to do much picture taking with them. They're getting so big now! I do have some videos I need to upload because they're amazing, so I'll get to that soon. My phone doesn't have enough battery life to do it just yet. So, I guess... Pictures and videos will come eventually!

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

It occurred to me that I posted about a video of the boys buzzing around, but never posted it, so here it is! They look so tiny in this than they do now--guess I'll have to try and get some pictures of them today!

And a bonus video. We had corn on the cob the other night, and the girls got the leftovers, of course. Some slow motion, corn attacking action!

Pictures to come! I would like to try and get individual shots of the bitty Mottled Cochins before they get too big. We'll see about that!

That is pretty cool, I would watch those fingers!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Haha, yeah, those little dinosaurs are likely to take a finger off when they get going! Of course, it was one of the little peepers who just the other day grabbed my hand instead of the food I was holding and wouldn't let go!

I do have some pictures of them from yesterday that I totally blanked on uploading. They've gotten so big! You know, comparatively speaking. I switched them from the leg bands to wing bands like I did with the Marans around this age. The bands on the poor Silkied Cochins were starting to indent their legs, so it was definitely about time! If you couldn't tell, they're on their right wings.

"Get this thing offa me!!"

After a bit, they got used to their new bands and don't seem to notice them anymore, so I guess we're good.

Now, about little White band Silkied Cochin. I went back and looked at pictures of Abra and Rowena at this age, and I'm feeling more confident that she is actually a pullet! What do y'all think? Here she is by one of her brothers:

Little White band:

And Abra at that age (in almost the same exact pose )

Yeah, I'm pretty sure White band baby is a girl. Time to start looking for names!!


Anyway, more miscellaneous pictures from yesterday. Here is Blue band in his new favorite spot--my lap. I still have memories of his older brothers doing the same sort of things and turning into real jerks as they grew.

Aw, but ain't he cute?!

My sweet Dorks! Myrna:

Nikita:

One of these things is not like the others...

Orange band beeper. What an attitude!

Myrna's got some 'tude, too... No, she really doesn't.

Blue band stretching a wing. (Nikita decided to join us, too. )

Starting them early with the BYC addiction.

White band and (..? One of the Dorks. ).

Time for a brief rest by the EcoGlow!

...And I do mean brief! Green band says, "Where'd everyone go?"

And I think that's all. Still haven't uploaded those videos... I'll get to it eventually. More pictures *maybe* to come, too, as the babies are unofficially 2 and 3 weeks old today.



In other news, guys, I'm STRESSED! A Ruby-Throated Hummingbird has built a nest on a branch along my path to the duck coop, and she keeps flitting away every time I need to do anything over in that area! I'm pretty sure she has eggs, too! ARGH!! I feel so bad, but the nest is positioned in such a way that there's no way for me to get around it to take care of Malcolm! I absolutely have to be over there twice a day, to open and close the duck coop, so I'm hoping that her being off the nest just those two times daily doesn't ruin those eggs after all her hard work.

 

[itspebbl]

I think White-band is a pullet
They are getting big, but are still as adorable as ever! I wouldn't think being off the nest 2x a day would hurt the eggs, especially compared to how long as hens get off of eggs I love hummingbirds though, and I wish a few would nest where I can see them!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

So far so good on the hummingbird. She seems to be getting more trusting as well, not flitting from her nest until I'm much closer than previously. Fingers crossed for her!




I have sad news this morning. Tiwhiri disappeared at some point either yesterday or at roost time. I found the feathers this morning, out in the woods. Now, it's up in the air as to whether this happened after dark last night, or while they were free-ranging yesterday. I dread the latter, but the girls were freaking out something fierce at around 5 or 6 last night... We've technically finished the project for the year (the new roosts), but I think a major overhaul of the chicken yard fencing might be in order. After the whole thing with one of the posts being knocked over, and now this, yeah, my girls need better protection.

I did get the babies outside for the first time yesterday, and got individual pictures of them for their 2 and 3 week 'hatchiversaries', but haven't cropped them yet. Will get to that eventually. Just like the videos. Oh, my, I'm getting swamped! I just need some time to snuggle on my hennies and think some things over today.