Pipd's Peeps!

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I meant to check in before now. But, haven't had time or made time. I just learned how to knit and then crochet so I have been working on a few yarn projects. I went to look at my notifications and it's completely blank even the show all. Not sure what that's about. LOL

It depends on how long it's been since you last checked. I know there's a threshold, I just don't remember what it is

I always advise people to look at their watched threads under forums instead of relying on the notifications. I haven't lost track of a single thread since I started going there. The notifications tell me I need to check watched, and the watched threads stay in bold text until I actually click and read them.

As for the mice, I think I'm just really observant and and the ick factor keeps my mind on them. So I'm always looking for them. I've talked to a few local people and they think they don't have mice. I think they just don't see evidence because they aren't looking for it. Plus, then they tell me their kids take care of everything and I'm like oh yeah, you def have mice.

Haha, yeah, even I've fallen for the "no signs of mice" thing. I should know better!! I definitely am aware of them now!

With the very last cold spell, I put the oegbs into the coop. It was too cold. windy, and snowy for them to stay out. I think they were appreciative as Rose jumped right into the coop.

I tucked my OEGB girls in between the big fluffy girls during that cold spell. Looks like I'll be doing the same a few nights this week. Winter just doesn't want to give up!

 

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Not much to say on the birds this week. Not much to say about anything honestly! I'm just locked in and working my way through projects, homework, competencies, and the last of the semester. 7 weeks to go!

The girls have been free-ranging a lot this past week, and they're laying like crazy already! Not even April and I'm drowning in eggs! I also thought I took a bunch of pictures of them this week, but I only have two

Here's Georgia giving me attitude for not making the grass grow faster so she has greens to munch. Hard life these birds live.

And old lady Caz Cochin getting some sun the other day She similarly looks like she's tired of me and my negligence

 

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Another long week without much to say. I'm short on time today because I have 2 tests tomorrow, one on Friday, 3 papers to write before next weekend, and the ongoing competencies and quizzes and homework in between.

I did finally get my first perfect score on a competency this past week, though! Maybe there's hope for me yet!

A little short on pictures again this week. By that I mean almost none... I tried to grab a few decent ones today so that I'd have something to share at least!

Here's Flint, Chicha, and Birch waiting expectantly like they thought I had something for them

Ganymede mid turn-and-run as I crouched for a picture

Birch getting a drink from a dirty water dish, shortly before I emptied those and filled their wall-mounted waterers. Hopefully we'll actually stay warm enough for them from here on out!

...And that's it.

Oh, except I did get a wind egg from one of the girls in the green pen yesterday! The first picture is all the eggs I got yesterday and the second picture is the wind egg in between normal Cochin bantam eggs just to really show how much, err, hard work was put into that one. Does she get an A for effort?

 

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Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it! Checking in for the week again. It's been another pretty boring week with the chickens, and another pretty brutal week with school.

We made it through, though! Another 2 weeks or so and I can start setting eggs for the season

There is something I would like to mention only because I mentioned his arrival years ago on his thread. I don't think anyone following now was around back then, but wayyyyy back in late 2017, my niece got rabbits for 4H. And I swore up and down if she was bored with them that I would not be the one to take over their care. Fast forward about a year or so, I was sick of seeing the poor things ignored, so I took over their care.

Anyway, now 8 and a half years later, one of them, Willow, is long since gone, and the other one, Sage, has just kept going. And going. And going. I started to wonder if he was ever going to die. Have we unlocked the secret to immortality in a rabbit? Who would I leave him to when I'm old and gone and he's still going on living? Well, I think we've finally reached the end with the rabbit. He seems to have gone fully blind, maybe partially deaf, and his hind legs have gone weak.

Suffice it to say, I was never fond of the rabbits like I am of my chickens. The care was too much effort. The rabbit never liked being handled so I couldn't even get joy out of holding him or anything. I mostly was just waiting for him to pass so I would have one less burden on my plate. Why not just sell him to someone else years ago? Because it's my niece's rabbit. I didn't really have that option even though I was doing all the work for him.

But, of course, I didn't expect him to choose Easter weekend of all the times he could have keeled over. Happy Easter, niece, your rabbit is dying. So that's how my weekend is going.



Anyway... back to the chickens. I do have some hens already wanting to go broody. If I had a better setup for broody hens, I'd love to let them hatch! But as is it would only add a further burden to my chore list. So, broody jail is up and running already this year!

The first inmate this year is Opal. She's a proven broody, but just a few weeks too early for me to set under her. Here she is being invisible in the nest box so I definitely won't notice her...

No pictures of the others, but they're also Cochin bantams, of course. Crazy little fuzzballs!


Other pictures from the flock this week, here's Chicha being blown by the wind

A nosy Freia inspecting my phone quite closely

Vega giving me looks for interrupting her bug hunt

Sylvie wishing I would kindly leave her alone (hmm, might be a theme this week

Bright eyes Poly this morning

Sterling watching over his girls

And Harriet waiting very (im)patiently for me to open the coop this morning

 

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Almost forgot to check in today!

I had another bad week of class. Well, overall not the worst, but then Friday happened. I did not totally bomb my test on Friday, but I did do significantly worse than I had expected. There was just one topic that I somehow managed to skip over when I was studying, and as a result missed all of the questions on it. So I spent most of yesterday feeling sorry for myself about that grade and moping around. But, I know that one poor test grade won't tank my overall grade in the class. I'm still in good shape there.

Sage the rabbit did end up passing on, but he lived through Easter and into Monday before he did at least. There will be no more rabbits on my farm!!

Other than that, it's just been broody madness here. Every time I move one Cochin to broody jail, another one decides she'd like to hatch, too! The latest one laid an egg in broody jail, so I released her... only for her to beeline to the nests to try and brood again

Oh, and we are about one week from when I should be getting eggs shipped to me, so my hatching season is imminent!!


Pictures for this week! Here's Poly in a nest box being invisible

A close-up of old lady Caz Cochin and her little streak of orange in her eye. I think she's gone blind or mostly blind in her left eye (the one not visible in this picture), so she walks around with her neck craned to the side like this. She's been acting awfully tired lately and not leaving the coop some days... Poor old gal. She's only a month or so shy of turning 10 years old. I hope she makes it and then some!

Three Cochin bantam gals, pretty sure none named. It's not a great picture, but I wanted to grab it because there's a normal blue in the back, a dark blue on the left, and a black front right. Makes a good comparison picture to reference in the future!

Closer picture of the dark blue girl.

Perdi by the downspout. She turned 9 years old this month!

Johnnycakes trying to channel her namesake by pancaking out in the nest

And handsome boy Birch looking up at me today I love his eyes!