Pipd's Peeps!

[Crazy Maizie]

We did lose both Pete and Mallow over the past week, as I feared in my last post.

I also had another rather tragic loss this past weekend of the pullet hatched by Delphine last year. She and Holly moved into the mixed flock a while back so that I wouldn't end up collecting their eggs to hatch from out of the green banders' coop. With the losses of Pete and Mallow changing the numbers on me, I screwed up my head count over the weekend and ended up locking the pullet out without realizing.

Sorry to hear about the losses. That's another fear of mine - missing one after I've let them out in the yard. I triple count and then walk around the shed and run area. But, still I've missed one temporarily and panic starts.

To say that the amount of guilt I feel over that incident is immense would be an understatement. She was not a bird I planned to keep and didn't have a name, but she still didn't deserve to die that way. Despite that I held my composure for the losses of Pete and Mallow, two birds that I was far more attached to and had had for much longer, I absolutely broke down when I realized my mistake. Yet another moment this year where I'd completely failed one of my birds.

When you have so much going on, you need to rely on lists and such. The stress of school is enough to make you forget. I'm the worst at creating lists. Then I forget my lists if I write them down - technology is just a tool and if it makes life easy, then we need to use it no matter how reluctant we are.
I know it hurts your heart over what happened, but you provided her with a great life as you do for all of your birds.

And, lastly, as an early birthday gift, my mom got me a set of polyhedral dice with little chickens in them Aren't they adorable?

The dice are so cute!

Thanks for the info on fly strike. I will look up swat. Ivy is over her broodiness too. I just put her in Cheddar's area and close up the little coop that's in there. She comes to her senses in about 5 days or less. I also had to deal with two broody Muscovy at the same time. Oh the joys. I'm hoping the egg issue with the others clears up when they molt if not sooner. I've already got a summer molt going on with some of them.

Well, stay cool these next few days are going to be a scorchers.