Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Glad you in joyed your break. You deserved it!

Aw, I appreciate that!

Truth be told, I could have used about 3 more weeks' break after the second half of that semester

But, back to the grind tomorrow! 17 weeks until summer break, and then it's all about the chickens for a couple months!


With regards to the birds, it's a bit milder right now than it has been, so I did grab a few pictures of them to post! Here is Rangi realizing I'd crouched down

"...Hi."

Sweet old lady With Wynne gone now, Rangi and Roha are my oldest birds in the flock, both turning 12 in May this year. I never expected those two to outlive so many, as accident-prone as Rangi has been all her life and as doddering as Roha has become these past several years!

Anyway, here's also a shot of Pete looking guilty. He's pretty touchy right now as he's been having a very slow molt for several weeks now. Wish some of the girls would learn from him and not go full naked when they molt!

Pete's daughter, Trixie, giving me attitude, as usual

And Opal realizing and becoming offended at me taking pictures of her butt

 

[Crazy Maizie]

That's for sure!! Chickens have this incredible expertise with finding new and unique ways to hurt themselves




Haha, that's Old English for you! They always want to be as high up as possible, whether we like it or not

My OEGB girls are bunking with me lately. I normally leave them out until I see any signs they aren't tolerating the cold, but this year I brought them in preemptively. This was mostly because Gwenyth--you know, the hen who already has half as many feathers as everyone else--decided to molt as soon as we actually got cold for the winter and I had to bring her in. So, I figured I'd grab Vega and Sumi so that Gwennie had some company. V was on the ground when I took this picture, but you can see they're getting along well enough at least!

View attachment 4025245

Then Achernar, Vega and Sumi's brother, was lying on the ground a few mornings ago, so I brought him in, too. He recovered quickly, thankfully, especially when he realized he was next door to some hens he could flirt with. Unfortunately, the only indoor pen space I have for birds right now are the brooders, the ones I have set up in my bedroom, so... It's always a delight to have a mature rooster in your bedroom.

It's been snowy and I've had to wear my coveralls out to do my chicken chores most every day, so I haven't had many picture opportunities with the birds lately other than the above. Not much to see anyway, other than a bunch of grumpy birds who don't want to go out in the few inches of snow we've gotten.


Also... I have no excuses for my absence the past week or so. I got caught up in vacation mode and have been catching up on some TV shows and couch potato-ing in between finishing up my program application for college. The semester starts for me on Monday, but it should be a bit less of a busy semester than the last one, I think... No guarantees, of course.

I will probably make them coop up this next week when we drop to single digits. But, what signs do you look for? (Obviously if they are on the ground when they should be roosting - I totally get that).

Now you have feathered roommates! What does Casper think of the set up?

 

[Crazy Maizie]

So, I made the littles coop up since the temps have been frigid all day. But this time, I got the ladder out and grabbed Rose first who was very agitated at being disturbed on her roost.
Ginger was like "ooh she's putting us in the coop" and flew right down. Rebel wasn't sure what to do, so he was still on the roost when I grabbed him. Ginger was a challenge since she roosts so high, but it was easier since I knew her evasive tactics. Once I was able to "sweep" her down, I scooped her up right off the ground.
Now, they are all tucked in and I'm sure warmer than they would have been.

 

[2ndTink]

We've been having a really cold snap here, I have one bantam that likes to sleep in the rafters, I'd been taking her down and tucking her in next to a big fluffy hen I have but I got tired of the frozen waterers so added a heater. It keeps it about 28 to 30 degrees in the coop (waters still freeze a little but I can dump the ice out still) so now I'm letting her sleep were she likes. She does surprisingly well, I have a rooster her same size who shivers at temperatures that she happily wanders around in.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

We've been having a really cold snap here, I have one bantam that likes to sleep in the rafters, I'd been taking her down and tucking her in next to a big fluffy hen I have but I got tired of the frozen waterers so added a heater. It keeps it about 28 to 30 degrees in the coop (waters still freeze a little but I can dump the ice out still) so now I'm letting her sleep were she likes. She does surprisingly well, I have a rooster her same size who shivers at temperatures that she happily wanders around in.

My rafters are in the run, not the coop. But, I'm going to be putting them in the coop for the next few days due to the extremely cold temps. They have been doing fine with temps in the double digits, I just get worried with the single digits and then add in the negative windchills.

 

[2ndTink]

My rafters are in the run, not the coop. But, I'm going to be putting them in the coop for the next few days due to the extremely cold temps. They have been doing fine with temps in the double digits, I just get worried with the single digits and then add in the negative windchills.

Same! We're supposed to be really cold the next 3 days. Keep those little ones safe!

 

[NagemTX]

Yup gona be cold here as well. Just put up extra wind blocking tarps, filled all the feeders and waters. Hope the wind stays out of the north because thats the side all my wind blocks are on.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Just checking in. All of my birds are doing well. The oegbs (and Rose) got tucked in one more night as the "feels like" temps are single digits. After 3 days of climbing up the ladder Rose and Mango (the newest bantams), are getting the idea that I am going to put them in the coop. Mango is up so high that I get on the ladder, then use the broom. She's figured out if I put the broom under her, she can use it to come down on. Then, I just scoop her up off the ground and plop her in the coop. For Rose I have been coming up behind her on the ladder, grabbing her and carrying her down. Tonight though she evaded capture and jumped to another beam. But, then as I persisted, she flew down to the top of the coop. I thought she would let me pick her up - we'll I was wrong. She jumped off and then ran around on the ground. But, then she jumped up to the coop door (which was closed) and I was able to grab her and put her in. So, she knows what she's supposed to do.
I know a lot of people think chickens are dumb, but they learn pretty fast once there is a routine.
Of course now, the temps are heading back up, so most likely I will just let them roost where they want.

How has everyone else's birds fared through the cold snap?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I will probably make them coop up this next week when we drop to single digits. But, what signs do you look for? (Obviously if they are on the ground when they should be roosting - I totally get that).

I am so sorry for leaving you hanging on this question!

It's normal for them to be huddling and shivering for reasonable bouts, maybe a few minutes at a time between moving around to eat, drink, or scratch and peck for a bit. Abnormal, to me, is long periods of huddling and shivering, keeping their eyes closed a lot while huddling, sort of swaying instead of standing still like they can't keep their balance, and being sort of sluggish when they do move around.

My tiny Old English girls start getting a little sluggish when we reach single digits, so I generally preempt this by bringing them in before we get to that point anymore.

They're kind of driving me nuts at this point, though, so I'm waiting for a good stretch of above-freezing temps to throw their butts back outside!

Now you have feathered roommates! What does Casper think of the set up?

Casper would spend a lot of time sitting in his cat carrier that I store on top of the brooder cages and staring down at them, but I guess he's grown bored of them since he can't get to them, so he mostly ignores them now.

Just checking in. All of my birds are doing well. The oegbs (and Rose) got tucked in one more night as the "feels like" temps are single digits. After 3 days of climbing up the ladder Rose and Mango (the newest bantams), are getting the idea that I am going to put them in the coop. Mango is up so high that I get on the ladder, then use the broom. She's figured out if I put the broom under her, she can use it to come down on. Then, I just scoop her up off the ground and plop her in the coop. For Rose I have been coming up behind her on the ladder, grabbing her and carrying her down. Tonight though she evaded capture and jumped to another beam. But, then as I persisted, she flew down to the top of the coop. I thought she would let me pick her up - we'll I was wrong. She jumped off and then ran around on the ground. But, then she jumped up to the coop door (which was closed) and I was able to grab her and put her in. So, she knows what she's supposed to do.
I know a lot of people think chickens are dumb, but they learn pretty fast once there is a routine.
Of course now, the temps are heading back up, so most likely I will just let them roost where they want.

How has everyone else's birds fared through the cold snap?

Aw, I love hearing about your smart girlies! Even if Rose was a bit of a stinker, there!

Hope your birds are still faring well! Mine pulled through that cold snap just fine, thankfully, and we're just grumping our way through the rest of this cold while waiting for spring to come. I didn't dare tell them what the groundhog said at the beginning of the month for fear they'd take up pickets and pitchforks and head out to Pennsylvania.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

...Hi, y'all.

So, I'm not going to be posting much because, phew, this semester is going off with a vengeance already. I started the semester already buried in homework and have been fighting my way through it just to keep above water on it! I have two online classes this semester and I suspect the professors for both of them operate under the impression that they have to make up for the lack of class time with piles and piles of homework. Between that and the homework load I already have from the two in-person classes that are, themselves, rather intense, I've been keeping busy!

I did submit my official application for the dental hygiene program at the end of January, later than I meant to but with time to spare at least. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I won't know until June at the earliest if I'm in, but I'll let y'all know ASAP!

More positive news from my neck of the woods, mom has one more chemo treatment to go this month, and at her last appointment her doctor said that her tumor has shrunk so much it can no longer be palpated!! Next is surgery in March to remove the tumor bed, and then she goes into radiation over the summer to finish it off. Here's hoping that's that and she can get back to normal soon!

I've been trying to plot my pens for the year between digging myself out of piles of homework, but I get the feeling I'm just not going to have the time for that until spring break at the earliest. Sigh. I'll try to set some eggs to hatch for summer break if I get my pens arranged over spring break so that my birds are where I want them to be for the year.

Last thing of note because I want to make sure these things are kept track of. Ms. Coco passed away about 2 weeks ago. She was old and wasn't tolerating the cold well, so I brought her inside, where she was absolutely thriving! Then, one evening, she was gone, just like that. I take solace in that she was warm, cozy, and had a full crop when she passed, so at least she didn't suffer. We also lost Phoebe rather suddenly to a bout of sour crop that I couldn't get cleared in her. Sad to see my birthday birdy go so young.

Phew, so that was a lot more than I thought I had to post, but there's the update from over here! I don't have many pictures because a lot of mornings are just feed the chickens and get right to work, but here are a hand full to tide y'all over:

Vivi realized one morning that she could reach the feed bucket from the perch build I put on the deck for the Cochins and snuck a few pecks in before I'd gotten the feed down in the pans

This is a terrible shot, but right after that cold snap, Augusta decided that she no longer needed her feathers, I guess

Just Mallow being a camera-fighting little stinker

Amaretto in front with her aunt, Roxanne, in back, both throwing attitude because I hadn't dished breakfast yet