Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[LaughingFeather]

Your new chickes are soo cute, are they cuddly?

Thanks. They are getting to know me quite quick. I have had them only a few days. But they already shake their head when I talk to them and several don't run when I offer to pick up already. The parent stock was very friendly.

 

[RustyHen]

i did open a few. One was just to big for the egg I think it took up ALL the shell inside, some looked like they stopped before lockdown. And a dark brown one looked like it wasn't fertile.

On BYC i went to learning center, incubation, candling for beginners. They were saying that those blood rings are indicating bacterial infection. Maybe you got it in your bator with the first hatch, where the one chick died after hatching, and then when you put new eggs in it was transferred to them.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

So very sorry.


I'm trying to comfort an strengthen myself with the knowledge that animals are not immortal as Gerald Durrell wrote in the first book about his Jersey zoo, but it isn't cutting it for me. You can't keep rabbits from being rabbits, I can't stop cattle from getting old or chickens from being subject to chickenish ills, but doesn't it always feel as if we should be able, if we just never made any mistakes nor had any bad luck, keep everything alive forever?

I know that too well. And I find it very serendipitous that you have read Gerald Durrell, I grew up on his books!

Went out to check animals, and the dog went after some predator. Turned out to be a loose rabbit - checked rabbitry and can not figure out how it got loose. No, open doors, holes or broken cages. Bizarre. And I can't run after it with the neck brace on. Got to wait til himself gets home and let him catchum!

I started reading them when I was about nine, I think- he was one of the few adult writers who hit the sweet spot between my voracious appetite for books and adult vocabulary and utter horror of "adult" issues.

Buried Suzzie and got the rest of the utterly necessary work done, but am still behind on projects like getting the roosters on CL and pruning the big roses where they keep trying to scalp me when I'm doing other stuff.

Nasty, nasty weather, but at least I didn't spend any of it stuck out on the far end of a rural bus route where I'd just missed a once-an-hour bus; it only takes doing that once to give you a sense of proportion about bad weather AND convert even a proud Western Washington native to carrying an umbrella when using public transportation.

ETA I have to admit that when my cousin's pullet who thinks I am her person walked into the wire kennel after I buried Suzzie, I had an evil aquisitive impulse to shut that door quick.

 

[Hinotori]

Quote: I started reading them when I was about nine, I think- he was one of the few adult writers who hit the sweet spot between my voracious appetite for books and adult vocabulary and utter horror of "adult" issues.

Buried Suzzie and got the rest of the utterly necessary work done, but am still behind on projects like getting the roosters on CL and pruning the big roses where they keep trying to scalp me when I'm doing other stuff.

Nasty, nasty weather, but at least I didn't spend any of it stuck out on the far end of a rural bus route where I'd just missed a once-an-hour bus; it only takes doing that once to give you a sense of proportion about bad weather AND convert even a proud Western Washington native to carrying an umbrella when using public transportation.

ETA I have to admit that when my cousin's pullet who thinks I am her person walked into the wire kennel after I buried Suzzie, I had an evil aquisitive impulse to shut that door quick.

It's been a bad time for losing birds these last few weeks.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Quote: It cracks me up that the Silkies do that when you talk to them. They all just start shaking their heads. Funny little things. I am getting 3 more this Saturday

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Sorry to those dealing with losses

I am getting the free meat chicks Saturday with my feed purchase at Wilco and going to sneak in 3 Catdance Silkie chicks into it from a friend that hatched the eggs. I am getting a Blue, Splash and a Split Black(she is not breeding those colors and knows that is what I will be breeding). My DW won't be able to say no once they are here. She said no more Silkies since we had such an issue with the first group from a different breeder. But I know we won't have the same issues with these.

 

[LaughingFeather]

It cracks me up that the Silkies do that when you talk to them. They all just start shaking their heads. Funny little things. I am getting 3 more this Saturday

The weather is keeping us down here longer than we wanted. I am so tempted to get more chicks. The lady I got the cream legbars from had some of the most beautiful Old English chocolate orphingtons. HUGE. Butts like a pompom. If hubby hadn't already given me the eye and a lecture they would be coming north.

Good luck with the silkies. I am enjoying mine a lot.

 

[TerrorBird]

ETA I have to admit that when my cousin's pullet who thinks I am her person walked into the wire kennel after I buried Suzzie, I had an evil aquisitive impulse to shut that door quick.

I'd have done it.

 

[TerrorBird]

Quote:
I've decided that I absolutely require some English Orpington pullets in a few years when I'll be down a few birds and looking for some fresh layers. I'd have given him the eye right back, but that's just me!

 

[hallerlake]

Hi everyone,

Very sad news to share. My favorite hen, Ameracauna, who had just been laying for a week or two had a terrible situation Saturday night. I can home around 1:30 a.m. to find her roosting with the other two birds. But I saw a huge mass hanging out of her, at least 6 to 8 inches long.

Long story short we had to kill her to put her out of pain. I knew what to do for being egg bound, but nothing we did worked, or even seemed to help. We put her in warm water, we tried to manipulate the egg out, she was whimpering (who knew our birdies could whimper?!) and it was obvious that nothing we could do for her would save her.

To describe the situation in full detail here would be pretty graphic: her situation was much worse than ANYTHING I could find online or within this community. I could not bear to take a photo of it. The egg was physically outside of her body, but so were a ton of her insides. It was gruesome.


So around 3 a.m. we killed her. This is my first flock, my sweetest bird, my only blue egg layer. I was a WRECK on Sunday and am still pretty choked up about it.


I am now to the stage where I want to get a new bird, but I am pretty sure introducing one bird to an established flock doesn't go so well. I have been searching Craigslist for blue egg layers. I thought about chicks, but husband isn't interested in spending all that time.

Advice?

I had that happen. It was awful. My sympathies.