Pipd's Peeps!

[Crazy Maizie]

Sorry to hear about all of the stress and losses caused by the hawk. My goodness having chickens aren't for the faint of heart (literally).

Unrelated to chickens, but one last picture (which I'll spoiler it because I know teeth can creep people out sometimes), this is my tooth model I got for school

That's mighty toofy.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Did someone say broody? Have no fear, Ivy is at it again. She might be on round 5, but I've lost count. I don't know how silkie owners deal with this (and she's only part silkie).

It about drove me nuts when I had pure Silkies and about drives me nuts with my Silkie mixes But I will say that Marka, the last Silkie hen I had, was an incredible mother, better than any other broody I've allowed to raise chicks. If only we could get this whole sexing eggs thing hammered out so that I could let these hens brood whenever they feel like and not end up with a million cockerels!



Also... Hi everyone! Checking in again! I got a bit over my head with homework this past two weeks because I already had my first exam last Thursday and I had to juggle studying with homework. I think I've caught up again and am getting the hang of the semester's routine, so hopefully we'll not have that happen again.

Pretty much nothing has happened with the chickens, like at all. A few more are going into molt. I had a couple Cochin hens threaten broodying this past week, but a short stint in jail convinced them otherwise. Beyond that, it's been routine. Feed them when I get up, spend all day at school or on homework, close them up and gather eggs at night. But, I welcome that lack of excitement when it comes to the chickens!

Pictures from the past couple weeks! First, we have another shot of Chicha! Don't tell the others, but she's quickly becoming the favorite of this year's kiddos

Flint, who has taken to running around a bit like there are a dozen gremlins in her brain fighting over who gets to drive this thing

The corn crib pullets decided they needed to be jailed the other day and all packed into this hutch together. You can see on the left where Johnnycakes is standing that the door was wide open!

That hutch is on the deck as a sort of isolation pen whenever I need it (usually I'll put a hen in there to brood because it's a bit small for anything else), but at the moment it's become an extension of the nest boxes and I find one or two eggs in it every day. Also, Gwenyth likes to sleep in it for some reason.

Here she is tucked for bed at the door of it, and then throwing daggers my way for interrupting her sleep for a picture

Oh, and last is a little pullet from this years' hatches who is just so round and fuzzy

Just for fun, here are a couple pictures from around the farm, too. Starting to feel like fall around here

The sky yesterday morning when I went out to feed the chickens.

And a little amphibious friend who was blending in expertly with this bit of rope here.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

It about drove me nuts when I had pure Silkies and about drives me nuts with my Silkie mixes But I will say that Marka, the last Silkie hen I had, was an incredible mother, better than any other broody I've allowed to raise chicks. If only we could get this whole sexing eggs thing hammered out so that I could let these hens brood whenever they feel like and not end up with a million cockerels!

Someday I might let her hatch some eggs, but for now she is back to her normal self. It seems like she lays 1 egg and gets back to broodiness. I mean she doesn't - it just seems like it.

Chickens are so funny. I just love them and love hearing about your chickens and seeing pics of them and the farm.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Hey, all! Sorry for the radio silence from my end! School has been a lot this past several weeks--tons of homework and a test almost every single week. That continues until fall break, the midway point of the semester (October 16-21 if I remember right), so I'll probably be pretty quiet again until then. Sorry!

Right now, I'm in the midst of preparing for the first several competencies for my degree. Competencies are pass/fail, not graded, so I either get it or I have to try again later because I can't earn my degree without them. No pressure, right? First one is next Tuesday, which will be correctly identifying 4 random teeth out of the anterior teeth (canines and incisors, in other words). Not just that they are canines or incisors, which specific one they are (left or right, upper or lower, central or lateral in the case of incisors, etc. plus their universal number). This, of course, is on top of a test the same day in oral anatomy, histology, and embryology. Boy do I know way more about the intricacies of teeth than I ever thought I would! So anyway, most of my 'down time' lately has been spent slogging away at getting all this info down!

I finally had a bit of a breakdown yesterday from all the stress I've been under and decided I needed to take a brain break, so I went to the Kendallville Apple Festival today. All the appley desserts and smokey pork you could ask for, and then some. I have been going over my tooth flashcards today anyway because I fear not doing any studying for a whole day, but it's been a nice, lazy day otherwise... Now I have an essay, a test, about 4 quizzes, and a competency to worry about in next week, so I guess that's all the break I get.

See y'all in another few weeks!



Oh, but before I go, I have a few updates and pictures from the farm to share, of course!

First, we did lose Trixie. I think I mentioned a while back that she hadn't been doing great. She rallied and seemed to stabilize for a bit, but then she went downhill this past week and was gone by the time I got home from class on October first. Rest in peace, little lady.

In lighter news, for pictures, here's Flinty being a doof

The two oldest Cochin pullets hatched this year

Chiiiiicha!

Miss Izzy Orpington

Chicha again. I was trying to capture how PURPLE she turns in the sunlight, but the camera didn't pick up a lot of it! Imagine this but even more purple!!

My mom grabbed the girls a pumpkin to peck at about a week ago, just something to keep them busy while I'm at school and they can't free-range.

And here's the end of day 1 with it! It's down to just the rind and stem now after a week of their handiwork, so we picked them up another pumpkin, a bigger one, on the way home from the Apple Festival.

That's all for now, y'all! Hope your flocks are doing well and the weather's treating you all nicely in your necks of the woods!