Category: Chocolate Orpington

Really Small Eggs

~ debc ~ 6 Comments

Fart eggs.   Rooster eggs.  Whatever you want to call them, it’s the term for a teeny tiny egg that sometimes gets laid and often has no yolk.

They can be laid by new layer whose bodies aren’t used to laying eggs yet,or by older hens who may be having reproductive issues.

I found one in the coop last night at bedtime.

Now, we do have two little hens who are just a little over 20+ weeks, and who have started hanging out in the coop more, checking out the nests.  One is our chocolate Orpington, Hershey.  The self-proclaimed Queen of Fluff.

16122381_1358613647545326_8530339489816510464_n
Hershey, getting cozy in the beds lately.

The other, of course, is her sister, the ever curious little Pavel.  Pavelle.

The only thing keeping me from thinking it’s Pavel’s egg, though, is the fact that this little egg is a nice brown color, and the egg Pavel hatched from was more of a very pale peachy-pink.  Almost white, but not quite.

Now, there is also Abby, who could decide to go back the business of laying eggs any day now.  Just because it’s winter is no reason to think she won’t.  She went right back to it last winter, with Pip sitting in the empty nest beside her because he had no clue what his Momma was doing.  (and the proceeded to sit in the nest with her newly laid egg afterwards, because apparently she’d left it alone and it needed baby sat.  Ah, Pip!  A big brother, even then!)

We also have all the Rhode Islands Red who’ve been in and out of various stages of molting this winter.

So… anyone could have laid the teeny tiny egg, really.

A few more pics for size comparison.  We had a normal-sized tiny egg (which I assume is Hersehy’s new egg?) the day before, in the same nest.  So it could be Hershey’s tiny fart egg.

As you can see, it didn’t have a yolk, just incredibly thick whites.  And the shell was hard to crack.  Like really.  It was thinker than I imagined it would be.

 

Snow Birds

~ debc ~ 5 Comments

I’m needing to post pictures of chickens doing Chicken Things today, and since the temperature decided to warm up and the wind isn’t blowing, they decided to oblige me.

I give you…the snow birds.

On this November Day

~ debc ~ 2 Comments

I have a lot of things to update on today.

I’ll start with Abby.  I reported earlier that she had gone broody while I was fussing over Ashley’s impending hatch date. I decided to order her some Easter Egger eggs to hatch, and they came from My Pet Chicken last Friday.

They shipped quickly, but got sent to the wrong post office, and almost went back to Harrisburg for re-distribution before I caught up with them. It would have taken another week to get them back, almost. Instead, I went to the post office they had been sent to, the next town over, and got them myself. Because there was no way I was making Abby stay on the fake egg longer than she needed to.

Yesterday marked Day 7. Next Friday, I will candle them and see how they are doing. Hopefully, they all will be okay, despite their weird shipping ordeals and the late fall conditions.

Now, onto sadder news…

file_002-4
Stacey is STILL pacing.

It’s been months since I first reported the oddity of Pacing Stacey.  The situation has not changed.  I’ve tried quarantining her, putting her in a smaller cage so hopefully she won’t pace (she did anyway).  I’ve tried watching and frequently removing her from the coop.  I’ve asked on-line for advice.  And last week, I asked a vet.

The vet was astounded and said she has never heard of that before.  She is a chicken owner, too.  We tossed possibilities around and then she said that IF I brought Stacey in, the most they could do was prescribe antibiotics and hope for the best.  I told her I was thinking about euthanizing Stacey.  She understood, but added that if I decided to keep her over the winter, to let me know how things progress.

Things I know:

  1. Stacey is still laying eggs.  I’ve seen her.
  2. She’s lost weight, and while she’s not starving, she’s a considerable size smaller than her same-breed, same-age flock mates.
  3. She’s obsessive about this.  Like OCD obsessive.
  4. The other hens are getting annoyed with her and have started pecking her when she gets close to them.

I don’t see how #4 is going to change over the winter.  They will in closer quarters when they are trying to decide if they want to venture into the cold white and most of the older girls are molting.  They are cranky.  Stacey is annoying.  It’s a BAD combination.

Thus, I’ve decided the only course of action, after months of trying to figure this out, is to put us all out of her misery.  Euthanize.  Freezer Camp.  Whatever you want to call it.

I feel bad.  I wish I knew something else I could do to take this away from her.  Make her normal and happy again.  Since I cannot, I must do what’s right for the rest of the flock.

Freezer Camp has been scheduled for tomorrow.  Stacey isn’t the only one to go.  We will be saying good-bye to the Boys of Summer.  Dani, Esther, Snickers, Sumi and Taller.

There was a lot of debate in the last few weeks about keeping one of Abby’s boys.

Esther was the only Easter Egger.  But with Abby sitting on six EE eggs, chances of getting another EE roo are good, too.

Sumi and Taller, the Sulmtaler Brothers are a rare breed. I tried to sell them online, but no one wanted them.  Then I missed the animal swamp because of my daughter’s cross country meet. Apparently, there was someone there with same-age female Sulmtalers.  DH said I could keep one to breed with if I got a hen.

I didn’t get the hen because I missed the swap.

I might have kept Sumi anyway, except I accidentally terrified him a week and ago.  It’s a short story.  The temperatured drops so that it was switching between sleet and regular rain.  He and Esther were hiding under the ramp.  I tried to get them both into the coop, wearing my winter hoodie.  He’s afraid of me now… like total full on freak out afraid.  He flies into a tizzy if I get near him and runs away.

Snickers is a big beautiful beastie, all chocolate brown and fluff.  But he’s also a bit untamed and wild. Not mean, just untouchable.

However, Dani is at 22 weeks and the rest of the Boys are at 16 weeks.

And, as noted, most the older girls are molting and cranky.  Dots is molting and cranky.

I have one little momma and four wee ones.

And one broody sitting on six eggs,with two weeks to go.

I found blood on the window ledge today where someone was scrapping with someone else.

It’s time thin the flock.  It’s time for Freezer Camp.  So the Boys of Summer will be joining Stacey on her journey tomorrow.

I’m REALLY going to miss them.  We’ve been having crowing concerts the last few mornings and afternoons.  Little roosters have such personality and do such amusing things.  Not to mention being beautiful.  Even Dani, who’s looks I wasn’t impressed with at first, has grown into a handsome, handsome mutt.  He’s tall like his papa and brother, and looks like bulkier.  Also, if we kept him, I think he’s more dominant than Pip.  Pip is definitely NOT an alpha.  Dani is.

Here is a good video of Snickers and some of the boys. I took a few more yesterday and the day before, I’ll most them to my Instagram later. There will be available here… or via the sidebar on this page.

Not many pictures of Stacey. All she really does anymore is pace. It’s sad.

Life in the Coop

~ debc ~ 8 Comments

This is my second Autumn with chickens.  It’s hard to believe that Double Dots, Abigail and their Rhode Island Red flock mates are a year and a half old now!

 

image

And Pip, my beautiful baby boy, is going to be a year old at the end of November.  He’s a picture of him from back in September, when the weather was still warm.  His younger siblings have been getting a lot of camera time lately, but only because I’m trying to sell the Sulmtalers and that means taking pictures of them.

File_003.jpeg

Speaking of… look how handsome they are getting!  From left to right, we have Taller and Sumi.  Sumi is the more dominant,  He crows and everything! Taller is his buddy.

File_002.jpeg

Dani/Danny, who is now 20 weeks old and turning into a beautiful boy in his own right.  He has found his crow now.  It’s not quite his papa’s and not quite like big brother’s either.   He looks mostly like his Rhode Island Red heritage, except for that white streak in his tail feathers. He’s tall, finally getting some bulk on him.

Dots as begun chasing him, too, so now Pip has a bit of a reprieve in that regards.

I am beginning to wonder if Dani wouldn’t actually wind up being more dominant than Pip if we were to keep him.  His behavior is different than Pip’s, more assertive.  He walks around, growling and trying to catch the ladies’ attentions.  They, naturally, ignore him.

Pip chases him, too.  He and his Papa have similar ideas about the new kid on the block.

File_001.jpeg

For reference, a recent picture of Dots.  Molting has not been kind to him.  His beautiful tail feathers are gone, gone, gone.  But he still reigns supreme in the flock.

File_000.jpeg

Pretty Eugenie, who looks so much like her Papa and pretty much no one else.  You’d never know she has an RiR for a momma.

File_003.jpeg

Snickers, my handsome Chocolate Orpington boy.  He acts like he might have a dominant personality, too, someday.

File_002.jpeg

And Hershey, his sister, who is also very pretty.

File_000.jpeg

Pavelle/Pavel.  I took this one just this morning  She is so much smaller than her brothers and sisters. She can actually perch on the chicken wire!

File_000.jpeg

Es and Pavelle are snuggle buddies at night.  They go up into the rafters together and tuck in for the night.

I am still unsure what to do about Es.  He and his brothers have been listed for sale in the local FB sale communities.  If they aren’t taken by the end of November, they will be off to Freezer Camp.

A new wrinkle in my decision-making process?  Abby, my beautiful Abigail who is the momma to Pip and all these little ones?  Has decided to go broody.  Again.  Her 4th time in less than 2 years of life.

I found her tonight, still in the same nest she was sitting in this morning.  Still puffed up and bucky.  DH wants me to get (he means buy.  I’m looking at My Pet Chicken) hatching eggs for her.  Easter Eggers.

If I do that, then I also have to take Ashley’s babies into considerations.  Two broody momma’s raising babies over the winter?

That’s a lot of babies.  And a lot of potential new roosters.  I’d probably have to give up the idea of keeping one of Abby’s summer boys in favor of these new Littles to be.

 

 

It’s October, Already?

~ debc ~ 8 Comments

I’m honestly not sure where August and September when. One minute, I’m helping Little Dude with his 4-H projects and the next minute, school is starting, then both my children had their sport seasons start AND the garden started booming.

1702_f14vn_xtje 1702_bittk5hgov

These pictures are from last week.  The green beans are still flowering and still producing.   The carrots are doing well, too.  I’ve been slowly harvesting them, cutting into cubes and freezing for soups and stuff over the winter.

The cabbages did well.  I harvested, and discovered that if I left the plant in the ground rather than did the roots up, they will start growing a new head.  I don’t think any of them will be big enough to harvest before frost, but the chickens might enjoy them?

I had decent luck with the broccoli, too.  I need to check them again, but I suspect they will slow down eventually.

I’m waiting to harvest the potatoes and sweet potato. Also, the brussel sprouts, which I’m not sure what to do with.  I’ll probably Youtube “how to harvest brussells sprouts” soon.

Over all, I’m very proud of my experimental garden.  I’m already planning for next year.

Dad’s tomatoes, though… those things were the best.  So far, we’ve done over 30 quarts of whole tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, home made ketchup (first time ever), salsa, chili and home made tomato soup (also a first time ever).  The soup and ketchup were my idea and I can just say — yum!!!

 

And, of course, since this is my ‘chicken blog’ I have to talk about the chickens.  🙂

I have a lot of videos and kooky pics up on my Instagram.

The older ladies and Dots are all in various stages of molting.  Some of them look rougher than others.  Some of them (Abby, for example) barely looking like they’ve lost any feathers at all.  But the over abundance of feathers everywhere is a testament that they are molting.

When does this end?  Winter is fast approaching and I’m looking at my semi-balding birds and thinking “they will freeze!”  And “I can’t knit so so no chicken sweaters!”  Especially not for 30+ birds.

Actually, I am NOT an advocate of chicken sweaters.  They are bad for our birds.  Cute, but bad.  Just say no. Okay?

All the babies are getting bigger.

File_000.jpeg

Dani and Eugenie.

 

File_008.jpeg

Pavel or… Pavelle … or who, I have been assured by someone on Instagram is, in fact, a pretty little girl.  🙂  She’s sweet and intelligent and loves to ride on my shoulder and ‘talk’ to me.

File_009.jpeg

“Esther” who is NOT a girl, but a handsome little cockerel.  I’m torn between renaming him Eddie or simply shortening Esther to Es.

I’m in the process of negotiating with my DH to let me keep him, along with Dots and Pip.  We have enough hens to justify three roosters and Esther is the low boy on the totem pole.  He might fit in just fine.   Plus,I read somewhere that an Easter Egger + a brown-egg layer will produce Olive egg layers.  IF  Es were to mate and I were to hatch those babies, I could potential have olive green eggs some day?

DH is thinking about it.  He wants Easter Eggers.  Es is our only survivor.  It could happen.

File_005.jpegFile_004.jpeg

The Sulmtaler Brothers.  I call them Sumi and Taller.  I shouldn’t name them.  If I can’t sell them, they are off to Freezer Camp by the end of November.  But they’re so cute.  And Sumi crows better than Dani does!

The chocolate orps (whom I have no pictures of because they won’t hold still for me) are boy & girl.  The little roo, I call Snickers.  He’s cocky and I think he’s been trying to establish dominance over Sumi.  They’ve been squabbling.   He also tried to mate with an Australorp yesterday. I wish I’d gotten a video of that because she went off on him, claws up and everything.  All the rest of my hens are pretty docile so I’ve never seen that happen before.

The hen is Hershey.  She is sweet, but standoff-ish.  She likes her privacy.

 

 

As the instagram caption says, Stacey as has been acting weird.  She paces the coop ALL DAY.  Always.  It looks like she’s looking for a nest box, but she never gets in one.  I don’t know what’s actually going on and Google is not my friend.

This is Ashley. Aka Ashe… some of you may remember Ashe was the little Australorp who kept the injured Baby company when they were chicks.   She is going to be a momma in about 2 1/2 weeks.  🙂  It will probably be my last Broody of the year, as winter is approaching.

Chicks, Bigger Chicks and Flock Updates

~ debc ~ 6 Comments

Wow!  It’s been 3 weeks since my last post about pretty much anything.  I’ve been posting things on my Instagram, but it’s easy to post to Insta where I need time to sit and type up a post here.  Especially if I want it formatted nice.

So anyway, yesterday this happened…

… and it happened again today!

Yesterday marked 6 weeks for Abby’s babies.  She celebrated it by, as you can see, laying an egg.  The chicks didn’t really celebrate it.  They were too busy being lost, confused and at times scared.  You see?  Yesterday, there momma decided that they were big enough to fend for themselves and she went back to doing Hen Things.

They day before yesterday?  She was still Momma.  Yesterday, she was Abby the Hen.  Not the Momma.

You see the source of their confusion?

They stick together, not unlike Dani and Eugenie did at that age.

Speaking of…

Eugenie and Dani, age 12 Weeks.
Dani has been crowing, though not often.  He has been increasingly chases by the older hens and sometimes (but not often) Pip.

In the past few weeks, there has been a clear division among the roosters.  Dots has the most hens.  He hols sway over the the whole barnyard.  Pip has a small handful of 3-5 hens who follow him around.  He helps protect and also looks after the younger ones.  Like Eugenie, Dani and Abby’s babies.  He is a good big brother, and turning into a decent boyfriend for the hens who have decided they like him.

Dots still chases Pip.  It’s a rooster thing.  They don’t fight, though.  I’m glad.

Dani has been regulated to Pip’s old status as the flock loner.  Even Eugenie has started hanging out with the pullets and trying to make friends with the other hens. She perches in the rafters at night.  Dani sleeps on the window ledge or the very lowest roost.  They still eat together, though, if no one chases Dani off.

Dani has made attempts to establish dominance over Abby’s chicks.  He challenged one of the Sulmtaler Boys last week.  Sadly, this was when Abby was still Momma and she went after him.  Which totally ruined his chances of having dominance any time soon.

Now that Abby is Not the Momma, things may change.  For now, her babies are sticking together, as there is safety in numbers.  They are also sticking to the weeds and bushes on the side of the fence.  Good coverage.  She taught them well. 🙂

I am looking to Rehome any of the Boys.  If you’re in the NY/PA/Maryland area and don’t mind meeting “somewhere in the middle” you can contact me here, via PM.  Offer includes Dani (RiR/Gold Comet cross) the Sulmtaler Boys, and at least 1 Chocolate Orpington.

I still don’t know about the others yet.  Crossing my fingers for hens.  Especially Pavel.  My heart will be broken if that little chick is a boy.

Okay… update on the status of the coop.

How do you tell if you’re mite/lice free?  I treated the coop twice, as recommended and will probably do so one more time, just for good measure.  Same with the chickens.  Everyone got treated twice.  I still don’t see anything on the birds, other than around Dots and Pip’s vents.  I would need someone to hold them to get pictures, otherwise I can’t explain what I’m seeing.

I’ve been asked if I use DE in my coop.  No, I do not.  But my chickens free range in their pasture all year round. I don’t lock them up, even in the winter.  There are 3 decent dirt bathing spots inside the barnyard, with ample dirt.  One of them is a circle where we burn wood, branches and barnyard debris.  It is loaded with wood ask, which is also good for chickens to bath in.  So I’m not in the habit of buying DE when they have plenty at the ready.

I mentioned the last time that I’m just going to start adding preventative measures to my coop cleaning.  Spraying the walls, roosts, floors and beds when I take out the old bedding.  I’ve been doing that 3-4 times a year with deep little method, so spraying then should not be an issue.

I’m also wondering if I shouldn’t add a rotation of deworming prevention. I do give them things like cucumbers, pumpkin and squash, which I’ve read in several places that the seeds are good for natural deworming.

Anyway… check out the Insta or FB pages.  There’s been videos and pics.  Again, it;s easiet to post a quick pic when I’m busy than sit down to type up a post.  Life gets that way sometimes. 🙂

It’s Tuesday. Picture Time!

~ debc ~ 7 Comments

It’s Tuesday!  That’s picture day in the coop… or birthday picture day!  Dani, Eugenie and the Easter Egger baby were all born on Tuesdays.  

IMG_9940.JPG

Dani and Eugenie are 9 weeks old today.  

While I usually find them together – Claire taught them well, didn’t she? – I have noticed Dani sneaking into the coop with the pullets.  He tries to eat with them, and they chase him away.  Ah, young crushes!  

After he gets chased away, he finds his sister and resumes his duties of watching over her.  

They are not much difference in size, honestly, and now about ¾ the size of the March pullets.  (Well, some of them.  The Orpingtons and the Australorps are HUGE!)

At night, they snuggle in together just below the roosts. Sometimes, Eugenie likes to sleep on the roost with her papa, but Dots is not as receptive to Dani and will chase him.  So usually Eugenie will also leave the roost to stay with him.  

I worry what will happen to Eugenie when the time comes to decide Dani’s fate.  If he is culled, will she become a loner like Pip?  Or will Big Brother take her under his wing?  Or will she start hanging out with Abby’s babies?  

Speaking of Abby’s babies…

IMG_9941.JPG

This is what week 3 looks like.  🙂

The two Sulmtalers like to chest butt each other and Choc Orp #1 (top left in the college) has a big comb and little red wattles.  Yes, I have a minimum of 3 little roosters in this batch.  I have no clue how to gauge little Pavel, the Pavlovskaya or the Easter Egger, as all of these are breeds I am unfamiliar with.  EE (or Esther, as Little Dude calls him/her) is my biggest chick, with long dark wings and all that orange in the chest and shoulders.  So beautiful!  Hopefully a little hen I can keep.  

IMG_9809.JPG

IMG_9920.JPG

Aren’t they adorable?

And lastly… my first ‘Baby Boy.’  Pip.  The no-longer Cute and Fluffy… but the Handsome and Funny.

IMG_9934.JPG

IMG_9936.JPG

I took these pictures this morning.  Pip lead his ladies to the back gate and realized I hadn’t taken a picture of him recently.  He really is a beautiful little Pipsqueak.  🙂

Busy Week

~ debc ~ 7 Comments

Well, last week was an extremely busy one, and not all of it was.

My aunt and uncle came to visit from Florida.  It was nice seeing them, but we were trying cram as much stuff into one visit as we could and it didn’t work out well.  Especially not with My Girl starting her first real job (as a hostess at a restaurant) and Little Dude having 4-H meetings and birthday parties.  So what honestly ended up happening was my Dad took his sister and her husband places and I ran my kids to their places and it was just wound up a crazy exhausting week.  For everyone.

In the middle of this, my former sister-in-law’s mother die.  It was sudden and not expected and my ex-sil was devastated, not to mention my niece and nephew.  Saturday was the funeral.  We all (mom, dad, my aunt and uncle, me, My Girl, and a fiend of my niece’s) pitched in to set up and run the after-funeral memorial luncheon.  It’s what families do.

Yesterday was DH’s 40th birthday.  We did a ‘cowboy’ theme, wore bandanas and cowboy hats.  It was simple, but great.

In the chicken world, we’re up to about 12-17 eggs a day now.  More of the younger girls are laying and the older ones are moving more fulling into molting. Yay, fun!

Dani and Eugenie are 8 weeks old today.

IMG_9764
8 weeks old!

 

IMG_9738.JPG
Dani, Eugenie, and their Momma

They don’t often hang out with their mother any more, but today when I was getting pictures of them, I did manage to catch a rare pic of the three of them by the waterer.   Mostly, they do their own thing now, which largely entails avoiding upsetting the older girls and hanging out together.

Sometimes, I find them both in the bushes with their big brother Pip.  I don’t know if they’re starting a club for former “Littles” or what but he tolerates them pretty well and doesn’t mind if they hang with him and his ladies.

Yes, Pip is getting his own ladies.  About 5 or 6 from what I can tell, who prefer him to Dots.  Yay, Pip! 🙂  His voice is also deepening.  He is growing up.

Pip also likes to help his mother with her new babies.  They are two weeks old now and I’ve seen Pip watching over them and teaching them how to scratch.

IMG_9763
Abby’s Littles, 2 weeks old

Well, here they all are…Abby’s littles one, at 2 weeks.  These are the ones who’ve survived so much just to get here.  Starting on the top row, we have Choc Orp #2, Choc Orp #1, Baby Sulmtaler #2,  (row 2) Pavel, Esther, and Baby Sulmtaler #1.  # indicates birth order.  Esther is the oldest.

IMG_9761
Esther, the Easter Egger baby

 

Little Dude says Esther is the easter egger’s name.  Regardless if it’s a boy or girl.  I’m hoping little girl, because I can’t keep them if they are boys.  I’m only allowed 2 roosters.  Dh’s edict.

But look at ‘Esther’s’ wings!  They are longer and more filled out than the rest of his/her siblings.

I’m beginning to see where some of what Abby did with Pip last winter was not just a winter thing, but how she is going to raise all her chicks.   She kept them all indoors for about a week (with the exception of the little choc orp who somehow got outside and stayed outdoors overnight).  Then she started encouraging them to come out.  The first handful of days, she couldn’t get them all to go back up the ramp after they’d come down it, so she would up sleeping on the steps at night with them until Little Dude and I came to lock up and then we would scoop her and her babies up and put them in the coop.

Sunday,she managed to take them in on her own before we got there.  🙂

Unlike Claire, who encouraged independence and exploration, Abby keeps her six remaining chicks close to her, secured in the weeds around the steps and in the run.  They don’t go much further than that, but she teaches them how to find things to eat by digging in the dirt and how to find shelter and shade in the weeds and tall grass.

No fence climbing or forays to the pond like Claire allowed Dani and Eugenie.

It’s amazing how different their mother styles are.

 

 

Chickens are my happy place, and they keep dying

~ debc ~ 7 Comments

I feel like a horrible chicken caretaker/mama/owner/person.

In the last week and a half, I’ve lost three baby chicks.  The first last Sunday, was the egg I found half broken and half still alive.  The second, Thursday morning, the last to hatch and our much-hoped for 2nd Easter Egger.

The third, this morning’s tale of woe.

One of Abby’s seven remaining babies somehow spent the night outside.  ALL night.

Please don’t ask me how, because I’ll be honest with you, she has been keeping them close to her and inside the coop.  I hadn’t realized he or any of them had gone outside at all, or else I would have have looked for him last night and he would probably still be alive.

But that’s jumping the gun.  Here’s what I DO know.

Last night, we counted heads and locked up, as usual.  Little Dude counted the heads of all the older ones.  28, including Abby.  Her little chicks were tucked up in under her for the night, except three who had their heads sticking out from in under her.

I went outside to lock up the coop door and get the treat dish.

This was at 8:30-:8:45ish.  They usually start going inside about 8-8:20, so this gives everyone time to find a spot on the roosts and tuck in.

I must have walked past the spot where I found the baby (a Chocolate Orp), two or three times but in the shadows, I didn’t notice it.

This morning when I went to let them out, I realized Abby only had six babies trailing after her.  NOT the right head count.  I freaked, especially after we had found poor little Stevie crsuhed in the wood shavings last month.

Then I went outside, thinking maybe he got brave and went out with the big girls.

That’s when I saw three of our pullets walking near (not touching) something brownish and fluffy on the steps near the waterer.  He was tucked up like he was sleeping and I swooped in to pick him up.  He was breathing, but gasping and his poor little body was limpish and cold.

He must have slept their all night, getting colder and colder as the night air leeched any remaining sun-warmth from the concrete steps.

I both marveled that he wasn’t injured visibly and that nothing had eaten him outright. He would have made any predator a good snack.

I tried to get Abby to stop trying to teach the others to scratch long enough to sit on him and get him warm, but she was in Busy!Momma mode and didn’t seemed to take much notice of the limp, gasping bundle in my hand, so I took him quickly with me to wake up My Girl (Little Dude was headed to Hershey, PA with his grandparents today so I was on my own), and together she and I got our med-brooder set up under a heat lamp.  I had her take the Vitamin B solution I used when Baby was doing poorly back in March because I am out of Sav-a-Chick electrolytes (the irony, I almost bought some this weekend), and told her to put some in a little dish of water.  My hope was to get him warm enough to drink and eat and beyond reason, pull through to go back to his momma.

While I waited for her to get a small dish for the  water, I dabbed some by finger into his mouth and laid him in the med-brooder, and went about the regular chores because the coop still needed cleaned and the chickens still needed fed.

About that time I heard a weird sound, like a cry, and I went to check on him and saw him attempting to move around.  Breathing heavy.  He thrashed a bit, rolled over and got stuck on his back.

And then, suddenly, the thrashing stopped and his legs stiffened up.  His breathing ceased.

My Girl arrived just then with the water.

She says she blamed herself for not coming quick enough with the vitamin water.

I could say the same for not seeing him in the shadows last night at lock up.  What kind of caretaker does that?

I’m a little too shell-shocked to be sad.  More like stunned and emotionally worn from losing so many so fast.

My chickens have been my happy place for the last year and three months, since we brought the first box of twenty (seventeen little golden roosters and three sweet little hens) home to live with us.  They’ve given me joy in times when the rest of my life was raining down sorrow.  Amusement whether I needed a laugh or not.  Smiles because how can you not smile at a happy chicken doing their thing?  They’ve given me something to focus on when I needed it the most.

More than a hobby, or livestock, or pets.

They don’t hate or judge or make demands on me that I can’t meet.  The only thing they ask for is love, a clean coop, fresh water, food… and treats.

I feel like I failed these three dead chicks.  I know I couldn’t have done much to help any of them, but I feel like should have been able to.

Broody Watch 12.2 – the final Abby edition

~ debc ~ Leave a comment

 

ETA: We lost him, after all.  😦

Well, it happened, against ALL the odds.  The final EE egg hatched!

the last Easter Egger is born

At bedtime, I noticed the first pip.  I was overjoyed because I didn’t think it would hatch.  It was way later than every one else.  Also, one of those two EE eggs was the one that candled fully dark.  I couldn’t see anything and marked it with a ? to watch.  When the first EE pipped, I thought for sure that the remaining one was the dark one.

I suppose one of them was the dark one, but they both hatched anyway.  Thus proving I have a lot to learn about candling eggs.

The total hatched was eight chicks: 3 chocolate Orpingtons, 2 Easter Eggers, 2 Sulmtalers, and 1 Pavlovskaya.

This morning after the last baby hatched, Little Dude and I moved momma and babies to the maternity suite.  They will have more room there, plus privacy and relative safety.

the little Chocolates explore their new home while momma sits in the newest brother

It’s going to harder to get pictures of them all while we’re waiting for the little EE to fluff out.  The maternity suite allows for maximum privacy, even from me.  Really I should have rethought that. ☺️

Ah well!  The hens seem to like it and that’s all that matters.