Babies and Eggs
The weather had kept the Food Lady and her knee scooter from visiting the girls, so she had to content herself with chickensitting the Babies and the Eggs. The Babies were pushing 3 weeks old and had been moved into the bigger brooder so they could stretch out.
There werenât any more little chicken faces peering at the computer screen thru the aquarium, but the Babies were still in the same room. Every time the computer would chime, they would jump and shriek and run all over the brooder. The Food Lady took the top off the brooder so she could look at the Babies and talk to them. They were very vocal; there was a lot of squawking and twittering. Two of the Baby Roosters squared off and did chest bumps, practicing for the time they would become manly Big Roosters, or as manly as Cochins get.
The Eggs are behaving themselves, as expected, but after candling the other day, the ones gathered before the Butt Trimming were not developing, so the full incubator is down to 15. Walterâs babies are hiding in there, as well as Silverâs and some Mille Fleur Babies from California. There are a couple Eggs from Dusty the frizzle splash and her boyfriend Chuckie that are still sleeping, too. They are supposed to sleep until February 12.
The Food Lady read on BYC about sexing Cochin chicks at one week, so she put little pink bracelets on the Baby Girls when they were a week old to see if it worked. So far, none of the braceleted chicks seem to be Baby Boys, but she is going to give it another week to be sure.
The Baby Boys are a whole ânother story. They spend a lot of time squabbling and chest bumping, as mentioned before, and they think they can fly. The Food Lady heard a terrible commotion yesterday, and one of the Baby Boys had flown out of the brooder and was sitting on a chair, complaining loudly. Just like a Little Boy to act first and think last . . . so the top went back on the brooder. That Little Boy got a time out. . .
The Food Lady is very excited about this Mille Fleur Cochin Baby!
