She has an incubator and not afraid to use it!

So, back in August I purchased a Hovabator Genesis 1588 as a precaution of my broody being a dingbat. Thankfully it arrived after the broody has refused the eggs for a weekend. So, I put in BBS Orp and Delaware eggs from my dear friend Cyn as well as some of my mutt eggs. Cyn was so sweet and knowing how much I love her Blue Orp roo, Suede, she sent me some eggs from he and his girls. 21 days later...8 new fuzzy butts joined our family. Here they are at 1 day old:

The Crew

Fattie


Sirius

Penelope

Severus

Athena

Thor


Draco


Cannonball

They are now 21 weeks old and a hoot. I am so in love with Thor and Cannonball, the two of them have unbelievable personalities. Here are pics of them now:

Cannonball

Sirius (back), Penelope (L) Severus (R)

Draco

Thor

Severus

Fattie

Athena

So, I have their NPIP paperwork and next month they get their vet check and certificate and then we all move to Kentucky. I could not leave my babies behind. I will take 20 total and 9 of my 11 ducks. The rest will stay here in Oregon with a new family.

Everyone is happy and ending their molt!

Giving them treats and all I got was fluffy butts for the picture...they were all heads down in the rice and scratch.

I am hoping that Luna is going broody so I can some wonderful Blue Orpington eggs from GA. I am currently beading a blue orp rooster as a gift for my friend, speckledhen and she is going to send me some of his girls' eggs when I get broody to sit on them. hehehehe

But for now, only Speckles has inspected the new ducklings and Miss Thang was none to impressed with the little quakers. hahahahaha

Confusion Everywhere...

Well the girls are as confused about the weather as I am. they are not sure if they should be laying or not laying, inside or out, cold or warm. Poor girls. One day it is beautiful and 70 and the next 5 it is 45 and raining.


I really wish the weather would make up our minds. meanwhile, we are expecting our ducks this week or next week on the secondary shipping date. This is going to be an adventure and fun. I just love ducks. Once they arrive, they will have their own blog of course...meanwhile, the girls and I continue to be confused over the weather.


They had an interesting visitor two days ago which did not make me happy one bit. With the nasty rainy cold weather I am assuming that mama fox has been hunting much or has been unsuccessful because she came calling. 9:30 in the morning, bright day outside and here she comes walking up the driveway. She took the time to look at the girls out in the run then look at me and then back at them as she headed for them. Needless to say she got the "Oh no you don't" and was promptly sent packing. So, now I am worried sick about leaving them even during the day so when I had to run errands I put them inside the coop, locked up safely until I returned.


So, time to finish the wire under the run for sure...no more waiting. That is the weekend project for me...get the run wire under and out away from the rest of the run to stop Mrs. Fox from digging in and get the netting up over the top to stop the girls from getting out (2 of them like to fly out) and to stop the hawks from getting in. While no hawk has tried, I am not trusting that.


So, onward with more work on Eggtopia and the Girls' kingdom.

The girls are a mess!

The girls are big and spoiled! My three favorites above are super spoiled. Luna is just a giant fluffball of sweetness. I love my splash cochin to pieces. Then there is my loud talker, Ruby. A cochin also but much smaller than Luna. She has the most beautiful fluffy red and buff tail. then there is Speckles the silver laced wyandotte. She has been a mess since day 1. Spoiled beyond words and she loves to go for rides in the van.

The rest of the crew is all grown up now too and doing great. Domino my little Dominique got something stuck in her throat and we almost lost her. but thanks to the wonderful advice and suggestions from Speckledhen, she bounced right back after dislodging the obstruction.

Now we are waiting on our ducks to arrive next week...I cannot wait to see how this goes. Speckles and Sandy (one of our EEs) come in the house regularly so their reaction to ducklings should be humorous.

Wow what a week

Well our little dominique decided to sacred us half to death last week. She was suddenly listless and stretching her neck like she was trying to throw up...which I know is impossible. So, in the house she came.

*

While Cheyenne got her medical tote prepared with water, straw and a blankie. I began using a syringe to get vegetable oil down her. I called a wonderful friend from the BYC forum and talked to her about her and got her input as well. She came to the same conclusion that something was stuck. So she helped work out a care plan for her which included continuing the oil and getting water and food in her.

*

So, every hour she got 1/4 cc of vegetable oil, a throat massage, water and soupy food. Day 2 I was wondering if I would have to cull her. But she actually started drinking on her own so, I did not give up on her.

*

I kept of that regime and finally she was okay and back to normal so yesterday evening she went baack in the coop. Everyone was nice to her and there were no scuffles and today she was her normal self.

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I am still amazed at how quickly they can go down but also how quickly they can bounce back. I love my girls and try to go the extra mile for them and I am so glad I did not lose my little pocket chicken. When she was a chick she would ride around everywhere in the pocket of my robe...when she was sick she tried to get in my pocket but she is too big for that now.

But Domino is here with us to stay thank goodness.

This is her as a baby sitting with me in my robe



Everyone else is doing fabulous and so is she now but she had us worried for about 5 days. life with chickens is never calm...it is always something. Either comical or scarey...it is always something.

Wow Spring is almost here!

The girls and our boy are getting testy over all the rain lately. The past two days it has rained too hard and cold for them to be out. Oh the revolt is being planned inside the coop. They evern went on a two weeks strike from laying and I fear if the weather does not stablize soon they will go on strike again, but for now they are graciously providing over 2 dozen eggs per day.

Everyone has wintered well, despite a leak in the roof somewhere. It has been a constant battle keeping the coop dry this winter because the girls go out and track mud and snow back inside so that creates "wet". The leak which is to be found, really wet it a couple times following a heavy snow. Needless to say, there has been a lot of straw removed and put into the compost area. As soon as it dries out enough and the threat of rain is gone, husband is just going to tear the roof off and re-do it completely. he is not happy with the metal and the "skylight" of the opaque panel. The very nice and expensive metal roofing insulation that was put in is toast. It was nothing more than a huge sponge for holding the water from the leak. So, lesson learned. We fix it and move on. the girls had two heat lamps which helped tremendously, they had a radio for their musical enjoyment and they got plenty of outdoor time throughout the winter. they hated the snow but would prefer to be out in it that locked up inside.

I have to finish the run security real soon. The additional wire under the fencing and out away from it to stop the diggers...still have two sides to finish. Then I need to get bird netting on the top of the run to stop the hawks. The trees around the coop area keep the hawks and such from diving in but, you never know so I am going to put netting over the top of the run as an extra precaution because I love my girls. :)

Some random pics of the girls. Ruby, red cochin, visiting Cheyenne for a little saturday morning cartoon time.

Cheyenne learned "Never eat a sandwich with a chicken" when Sandy aka Diva Chick came in for some TV time.

So, everything here is status quo. Chickens are spoiled, they have a new guard puppy who is growing fast and happiness abounds beyond the winter cabin fever.

The girls get a new guardian....

Oh the girls are not sure what to make of the new Guardian but he really likes them and wants them to play with him. He is a 13 week old Great Pyrenees/Black Lab cross puppy. A 42 lb pound puppy.

He is the sweetest little thing in the world...truly a gentle giant. However, his natural guardian instincts are surely asserting themselves. He has alerted to a fox and a stray cat being outside.

The girls themselves are doing well but they are ready for the cold weather to be gone. They want more outside time...preferrably warmer outside time.