Pipd's Peeps!

I think I've come to a decision regarding the little naked neck's name finally. Sometimes I have an idea of the type of name I want for a bird and figure something out from that. Sometimes, I just happen to say a name and it seems to click. The latter is what happened with her.

She looks so much like the Australian Brushturkey to me that it's uncanny, so I've been looking at more about them. One of the names people call them is 'gweela,' which is... interesting. I may have chosen that if not for already having a Neela in the flock. So I was looking at 'Gw' names like Gwenevere or Gwendolyn or something to that effect. I was talking to her last night and happened to say Gwenyth to her, and she responded to me immediately in such a way that it just felt like a 'click' to me. 😁

'Gwen' is a Welsh name from 'gwyn' which means 'white,' and she's mostly white, plus it has the 'Gwe' like gweela. I had been looking for fashion names, names that made me think of those models with the neck scarves, since she's got her little tuft of feathers that reminds me of them. But Gwenyth feels like a match to me. I haven't decided on the spelling yet, but I do like Gwenyth as the spelling thus far.

So, I guess, long story short... I'd like to officially introduce Gwenyth. :love

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I've just gotten everything set up for everyone to move outside full time, something that really ought to have been done a while ago if I'm being honest. That includes Neela and Dandelion, who have been going outside during the day, but sleeping and spending a few hours of the morning inside in their hospital pens. Both are doing great, though I hesitate to be too optimistic about Dandelion with her recurring prolapse issues. Neela is mostly blind in one eye, but gets along okay, no longer limping, hobbling, scooching on the ground, or even struggling in the least to keep her feet underneath her. It's just that she gets pecked at, and because she's got one major blind spot, she easily gets pecking wounds from not seeing the other birds coming. So, Neela has to remain separated from the flock for now at least.

The babies will also be spending their first night outside tonight. They'll be 8 weeks old at the end of this week, so I cut it close, but I made my self-imposed 8-week move out deadline for chicks on them! 😅 Siiiigh, I guess I'm an empty nester again! At least my morning and evening routines should be quite a bit easier now.


Just for laughs, here's Gwenyth and Choco baby 3 having a staring contest today. They have seen each other before, many times, so I'm not sure why they both seemed so shocked that the other was there. 🤣

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Cressida just passed away rather abruptly, not 10 minutes ago. I heard a strange sound over the monitor and the flock set off, and when I went out to check she was laying on the floor in the corner of the coop. The flock has gotten upset in the past after witnessing the death throes of other flockmates, so I believe that's what happened. No wounds or signs of attack or anything.

She was a 2011 baby, so quite old, and she'd been struggling with what seemed like arthritis in her hips for a long time now. It seemed like that got a lot worse for her in the past few weeks, so I knew something was wrong and figured her time left was limited. She was a beautiful Easter-egger hen, one of my favorites as far as appearance goes with her striking red and blue and accents of gold, and when the sun hit her, she would absolutely glow. She also was the one bird who stubbornly slept up in the rafters of the coop every night for her entire life until her hips got bad enough that she couldn't get up there anymore. Poor old gal. After 11 years of life, I suppose it was just her time. May she rest in peace. ❤️

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Choco baby 3 is acting a bit sluggish this morning, so I went ahead and put the babies on Corid again just to be safe. We've had a lot of rain lately and last night it rained even more, so my best guess is it's the start of coccidiosis. Poor baby. The others are acting fine, but I'd rather treat them all to be safe than risk losing any of them, especially the pullets since there are so few of them in that group. I'd planned to take pictures of them this week since they are officially 2 months old in the next few days, so hopefully the little guy feels better soon so that he can pose for a picture. ❤️

I'll have to list some of the boys for sale soon, probably after their round of Corid. They're getting to be a bit rambunctious and the poor girls end up getting trampled in the middle of their chest bumping games. I've been thinking I might make a post in the BST area here and see of anyone is interested in any of them first, before putting them up on Craigslist. Being that they're so small still, I don't know, I just don't trust the general population of Craigslist browsers to properly care for them and not just toss them into a flock of adult hens or something. 😬 I feel like most of the people who post here are a bit more aware on that front at least.
 
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Choco 3 is back to normal, and Choco 1 gave me a bit of a scare this morning, but seems to be fine now. Hopefully we're out of the woods with coccidiosis now. :fl I will see if I can get them to cooperate for pictures this afternoon, and if not, then tomorrow for sure.

Also, Trixie and Gwenyth are free-ranging for the first time today! I'd noticed that Dandelion was being completely wicked toward them in the pen while the other birds free-ranged, and I figure at a little over 16 weeks old that they're old enough to start ranging with the flock. Thus far, they don't seem to realize that the door is open and they can go through, kind of like those videos you see of dogs who won't go though a doorway because they're used to a glass or screen door being in their way. 🤣 Silly girls! I'm sure they'll get the hang of it, though.

Gwenyth has gotten into the habit of flying at me instead of down toward the ground to get down from roosting in the morning, and this morning she collided with my head like Rayburn did a while back. Thank goodness she's a tiny maybe one-pound bantam and not a 10+ pound giant floofy Orpington! Anyway, we'll have to see if we can break her of that habit because I am not enjoying her clumsy attempts to land on me and the resulting scratches I'm getting from it.
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Still keeping an eye on Choco 1 because something seems off with him... 🤔 The only thing I can figure is it's that we're weaning to pellets and he's starving rather than eating them, but I thought I'd seen him eat some this morning, so I don't know. Just gotta keep an eye on him, I guess, as there's not much else I can do.

Anyway, I did get their pictures today! We'll call them 2 months old for the purposes of the pictures. 😊

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Some things worth noting. After some research, I've determined that breeding Blue to Blue will naturally result in lighter Blues over time, so I believe that Blue 1 will be my chosen breeder male for the Blue pen even though he's a darker Blue than I'd prefer. He just has so much potential already, and if what I'm reading is correct, him being dark won't make a huge difference in how dark his offspring are, especially if bred to a light Blue like Blue 4. Blue 3 will be his backup (and if I have the time and space next year I'll try to hatch some from him as well), and Blue 5 I still think I will keep back just in case, but he's got issues so he's definitely last in line for breeding.

Obviously the mixed color baby is still a cull even though he outwardly looks pretty good right now. I cannot risk that he might impart some weird color genetics, even if he never shows leakage or anything, so he can't even be a backup Blue. Darn. I haven't fully decided between the Chocolate boys, but have been leaning toward and will probably go with Choco 1 if he recovers from whatever is up with him. His foot feathering is just a bit better than Choco 3, and he's not as big. So Choco 3 is most likely going to be a cull as well. I have come across another farm with Chocolate Cochin bantams that I may look into getting eggs from next year to see if their stock is a bit better, but for now I'd like to hold onto one of these boys just in case.

Out of the Black cockerels, I'm not seeing anything spectacular, and Jack already looks really good as a backup Black male, so I honestly don't know if I'll keep any of them at this point...

Blue 6 will also have to be a cull. I hate to cull a pullet when there are so few in this hatch, but her middle toe feathering is awful and I'd rather cut that from my breeding group than leave it in. Please note that she will go to my mixed flock, not the freezer, and the cull boys I will at least try my hardest to rehome before I'd even consider sending them to the freezer. Unfortunately, they don't have the same luxury that a pullet does in being able to integrate into the mixed flock with roosters already present there and a very limited amount of space for more males.

Anyway, I think that's all my thoughts there...

I also grabbed a few pictures of Trixie and Gwenyth while I was out there, so here they are:

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Gwenyth decided to be a nosy little stinker and ruined a good shot of Trixie 🤭

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And that's it for now! 😁
 
Yeah, something's definitely up with Choco 1. He's kinda unsteady on his feet today. :hmm Thinking about the possibility that he's not eating because he doesn't like the pellets, I gave the babies the dish of powder from the bottom of the big girls' feed, since this last batch of pellets I got is pretty crumbly. He's eating that like he's starved, so hopefully he can fill up and get some strength back. :fl
 
Choco 1 is down, not able to stand any longer. 😟 I brought him in to the brooder I hadn't taken down yet and if he pulls through the night, I'll start tubing fluids into him tomorrow. I really think with this, though, that I've decided I'm not going to keep either of the Chocolate males for breeding and try again next year with different stock. Even if Choco 1 pulls through, he and Choco 3 just really don't have that good of type or foot feathering for Cochin bantams, and their skin color is wrong as well. I will still try to doctor Choco 1 through this because I will not let a sick bird die unless they are beyond hope and I don't think he's there yet, but I don't know if I'll keep him if he pulls through, honestly. I just really don't have the space.



Thinking of names for the newbies, I think I've decided that Blue 6 will be Larkspur, one of my favorite flowers and the flower of my birth month... depending on who you ask. Normally I would reserve flower names for the girls in Gus's group, as that's their sort of theme, but Blue 6 is a cull anyway and just going to be in the pet flock rather than any of the breeder flocks, so I think it's fine. The name has a sort of fiestiness to it with a hint of sweetness, just like that little lady, so I feel like it suits her well. :love Choco 2 I'm thinking will be Freia, which is the name of a Norwegian chocolate company because I am not that creative. 🤭 I do think it suits her as well, being a little low-key, but a strong enough name to stand on its own. That leaves Blues 1 and 3-6 and Black 3 still in need of names, and possibly one of the Black cockerels as well if I decide to keep one of them, but that's all I've got for now. Heck, it took me, what, 15 weeks to name Gwenyth, right? I have plenty of time on these babies. 🤣
 
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First tubing done, just water for now. Once I'm sure he's hydrated, I'll start on food. I might need to get some fresh handfeeding formula for the job, though, as I'm pretty sure what I've got is getting close to its expiration if not past already...

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