Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

It is good that the open coop did not result in an attack last nigh too.

Definitely! I would never have forgiven myself if that happened. I'm still upset that I let that happen to my first Cochin bantam cockerel, Po, years ago. I've set up a checklist of my nighttime coop closing routine in my phone that alerts me every night if it's not been checked off, so hopefully that helps make sure it never happens again.






Pictures! I actually took these a couple days ago, but it's taken me this long to get up the gumption to crop them to post.

I'll start with the 9-month-olds, in alphabetical order. Here is Amaretto, who was too busy getting ready to lay an egg to pose for a picture! I believe she started laying before this, though, and I hadn't noticed until I tried to find her to take her picture. The nests still need to be cleaned and re-lined with bedding for the springtime, so that box isn't the nicest, but whatever does it for her I guess.

Armada, who only posed because Roha was standing nearby

Feldon, who wanted nothing to do with me. It sadly looks like he and Louis will lose part of their combs from frostbite. They didn't have any sign of it until we started warming up and were getting repeated freezes and thaws.

Gluttony, who laid her first egg on March 3!

Louis, being a butthead and not posing

Peanut Butter! She looks like she'll be laying pretty soon, too!

Rosey, who has been having springtime boxing matches with big brother Buzz these days.

Sumi, with Vega and Altair watching closely in the background

And finally, Troll... with Feldon watching over him in the background.

Now, the 11-ish-month-olds, starting with Buzzy

One dandy Dandelion She may have laid her first egg today, though I can't 100% confirm just yet.

Gus, my handsome man

Myrtle, the roundest fuzzball

And Zinnia, who would like to give Myrtle a run for her money

Some extra pictures from the day. Here is an incredible amount of sass from Glutty for me following her around to get her picture

Dandy's comin'!!

...Dandy's here!!

What a cutie

The fluffbutt squad in action!

Gus, going for the windswept look

Gussy actually got in my lap! By himself!!

And that looks like it!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Well, so much for all that relief about feeding my flock. I got a call this morning from the feed place letting me know that the manufacturer I was going to order through no longer makes pelleted all-flock, just crumble. I really don't want to go back to crumbles for my flock! The pellets just do so much better for preventing feed waste and the subsequent mold from them losing feed in their bedding. So we're checking another manufacturer that *supposedly* makes all-flock pellets, and if that's a no go, then I guess I'll be mixing layer pellets with the expensive show bird pellets to dilute down the calcium (and the cost) until I can find a better solution. I'm so frustrated!

 

[ronott1]

Definitely! I would never have forgiven myself if that happened. I'm still upset that I let that happen to my first Cochin bantam cockerel, Po, years ago. I've set up a checklist of my nighttime coop closing routine in my phone that alerts me every night if it's not been checked off, so hopefully that helps make sure it never happens again.






Pictures! I actually took these a couple days ago, but it's taken me this long to get up the gumption to crop them to post.

I'll start with the 9-month-olds, in alphabetical order. Here is Amaretto, who was too busy getting ready to lay an egg to pose for a picture! I believe she started laying before this, though, and I hadn't noticed until I tried to find her to take her picture. The nests still need to be cleaned and re-lined with bedding for the springtime, so that box isn't the nicest, but whatever does it for her I guess.

View attachment 2565693


Armada, who only posed because Roha was standing nearby

View attachment 2565694


Feldon, who wanted nothing to do with me. It sadly looks like he and Louis will lose part of their combs from frostbite. They didn't have any sign of it until we started warming up and were getting repeated freezes and thaws.

View attachment 2565695


Gluttony, who laid her first egg on March 3!

View attachment 2565697


Louis, being a butthead and not posing

View attachment 2565703


Peanut Butter! She looks like she'll be laying pretty soon, too!

View attachment 2565705


Rosey, who has been having springtime boxing matches with big brother Buzz these days.

View attachment 2565706


Sumi, with Vega and Altair watching closely in the background

View attachment 2565707


And finally, Troll... with Feldon watching over him in the background.

View attachment 2565708


Now, the 11-ish-month-olds, starting with Buzzy

View attachment 2565724


One dandy Dandelion She may have laid her first egg today, though I can't 100% confirm just yet.

View attachment 2565725


Gus, my handsome man

View attachment 2565732


Myrtle, the roundest fuzzball

View attachment 2565733


And Zinnia, who would like to give Myrtle a run for her money

View attachment 2565734


Some extra pictures from the day. Here is an incredible amount of sass from Glutty for me following her around to get her picture

View attachment 2565696


Dandy's comin'!!

View attachment 2565726

...Dandy's here!!

View attachment 2565728

What a cutie

View attachment 2565727


The fluffbutt squad in action!

View attachment 2565729


Gus, going for the windswept look

View attachment 2565730


Gussy actually got in my lap! By himself!!

View attachment 2565731


And that looks like it!

They look great!

It seems to have been a bad year for frost bite.

 

[ronott1]

Well, so much for all that relief about feeding my flock. I got a call this morning from the feed place letting me know that the manufacturer I was going to order through no longer makes pelleted all-flock, just crumble. I really don't want to go back to crumbles for my flock! The pellets just do so much better for preventing feed waste and the subsequent mold from them losing feed in their bedding. So we're checking another manufacturer that *supposedly* makes all-flock pellets, and if that's a no go, then I guess I'll be mixing layer pellets with the expensive show bird pellets to dilute down the calcium (and the cost) until I can find a better solution. I'm so frustrated!

I am using a layer feed that is mini pellets. It does very well for feed waste. I also use a bucket feeder that lessens spillage

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

It seems to have been a bad year for frost bite.

It was a pretty brutal end to the winter across a lot of the country. I'm grateful that it only seems to have affected my OEGB boys and no one else.

I am using a layer feed that is mini pellets. It does very well for feed waste. I also use a bucket feeder that lessens spillage

I'd love to see your feeder setup! I was thinking if I had to go back to crumbles that I'd put together a bucket feeder like the one aart has in their article here, though I'd much rather not go back to crumbles if I can help it!

On the mini pellets, I got a feed years back, when I was still trying to figure out what I was going to feed my flock the first time, that was a mini pellet; I believe it was a gamebird mix that was higher protein so I mixed it with regular-sized layer pellets to cut down that protein content. I figured it would be perfect because my girls love the pellets and certainly they'd go nuts for that, but they hated the mini pellets! They went as far as to eat all the bigger layer pellets up around them and then only pick at the mini pellets! I was so surprised by that! Anyway, that's how they were when I first went from crumbles to pellets over a decade ago now, but then the second time I tried pellets, they acted like it was a treat and ate them down like mad, so maybe if I go to mini pellets a second time the same thing will happen.

 

[ronott1]

It was a pretty brutal end to the winter across a lot of the country. I'm grateful that it only seems to have affected my OEGB boys and no one else.





I'd love to see your feeder setup! I was thinking if I had to go back to crumbles that I'd put together a bucket feeder like the one aart has in their article here, though I'd much rather not go back to crumbles if I can help it!

On the mini pellets, I got a feed years back, when I was still trying to figure out what I was going to feed my flock the first time, that was a mini pellet; I believe it was a gamebird mix that was higher protein so I mixed it with regular-sized layer pellets to cut down that protein content. I figured it would be perfect because my girls love the pellets and certainly they'd go nuts for that, but they hated the mini pellets! They went as far as to eat all the bigger layer pellets up around them and then only pick at the mini pellets! I was so surprised by that! Anyway, that's how they were when I first went from crumbles to pellets over a decade ago now, but then the second time I tried pellets, they acted like it was a treat and ate them down like mad, so maybe if I go to mini pellets a second time the same thing will happen.

I have one like this and a second one I made from a kit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016047Q8S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Oooh, yeah, I've seen that type of feeder before! Thanks for the link!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I was sitting with the babies a couple days ago and noticed that our busy Bee has what appears to be salmon-colored breast feathers coming in. I'd written her off as male a week or two ago because her chest was feathering in white like the males' do, so I figured it was a done deal. But now I'm trying to remember how Havok feathered in and whether she started with white chest feathers as well. The Fawns and Sumi all got salmon coloring there with their first feathers, but maybe because she's Khaki it's more dilute and harder to detect. Anyway, this led me to compare her comb development to the for sure boys of the same age, and I'm feeling more confident that she's a pullet now, so looks like her eye striping was correct after all.

The other four... Yeah, they're boys. The middle two I've been sure of for a while and their chest feathering confirms that. The youngest two are already getting their combs in, including a hint of color to them. I'll give them a bit more time before I'm 100%, but I'm about 80% sure on them as is. But hey, I got one pullet!

 

[ronott1]

I was sitting with the babies a couple days ago and noticed that our busy Bee has what appears to be salmon-colored breast feathers coming in. I'd written her off as male a week or two ago because her chest was feathering in white like the males' do, so I figured it was a done deal. But now I'm trying to remember how Havok feathered in and whether she started with white chest feathers as well. The Fawns and Sumi all got salmon coloring there with their first feathers, but maybe because she's Khaki it's more dilute and harder to detect. Anyway, this led me to compare her comb development to the for sure boys of the same age, and I'm feeling more confident that she's a pullet now, so looks like her eye striping was correct after all. View attachment 2572278

View attachment 2572272

The other four... Yeah, they're boys. The middle two I've been sure of for a while and their chest feathering confirms that. The youngest two are already getting their combs in, including a hint of color to them. I'll give them a bit more time before I'm 100%, but I'm about 80% sure on them as is. But hey, I got one pullet!

The silver grey dorkings start out with white feathers. The chest goes black for males and salmon for females at the first molt

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Hmmm, my SGD cockerel had a black chest right away... Though you're right, the pullets have had whitish chests at first, and Sumi did, too, now that I've looked back at her pictures. I misremembered that.

The solid white chest on Bee threw me off because she's khaki silver duckwing. The cockerels are primarily white rather than black like plain silver duckwing, and so get solid white chests as they feather in. The females almost look like red pyle females, though with some differences, and I just assumed they'd get their salmon chest feathers right away, oops. I guess I didn't remember how Havok feathered out, but I think I was paying less attention because at the time I didn't think I could tell males from females on the khakis by their eye stripes and I thought the majority of those chicks were males anyway. How wrong I was.




Speaking of those children, I have thoroughly traumatized them today. I kept noticing droppings on the edge of their box brooder, and Bee has hopped out a couple times when I've sat with them, so I got a large puppy playpen with a zipper top to use as a brooder and contain the beasts. This sucker is about 4 feet from edge to edge so they ought to have plenty of room to buzz around compared to in the chambered boxes they had before! Here they are after getting over their initial fear of their new brooder, but hiding in terror from the new play perches. (Bee is the brave one out front )

Oh, and now that Glutty and Amaretto have started laying, it looks like Armada is gearing up to lay her first egg today!! She... picked the dirtiest nest box to use so...