Uh- Yeah. SO this happened.

Part of why I've been so busy and WANTING to post about it, just not getting around to it?

Because this happened:

Oh so cute and fluffy. They've been around a couple weeks already and they've outgrown the little tub. That happened on week 2.

Week 2 also saw that all of them had wing feathers and the down markings are fading here and there. Still awfully cute though.

Now week 3 and they are beginning to get in their tail feathers and they are FLYING. Not far, but flying none-the-less. Especially to the top of the water canister. They love getting up higher than the other chicks and being the one looking down. Of course the dynamics insist that the chick on top gets knocked down by another occasionally and so on and so forth.


So, introductions....




This is Bunny. The coloration of it's down was all rabbit colored and mottled. Grays, tans, a little peach, BEAUTIFUL little thing. The feathers so far are lavender, grey, white and lightly tinted with gold.

This one is supposed to be an Easter Egger but has no promise for muff or beard development as of yet.

 S/he also tends to hop around a lot. So Bunny will probably stick as a name.

This chick is probably the most independent, but still enjoys a good snuggle. I think it will also be the first to spend the entire day outside by itself. (Safely enclosed in a cage of course)

Speckles, dotty, whatever is on the left.

This is our other Easter Egger, She does have wonderful ear muffs and shows promise of a small beard as well. This ones name started as Speckles, changed to Dotty, then.... well I don't think it's settled just yet.

 


This ones adult coloration is changing rapidly. red/gold with black circles on its feathers. It will be interesting to watch it develop. Just in the few days since I took these pictures the color pattern has changed.

Below are the two Brahmas. A light Brahma (Yellow chick) who's name is Fluffy. This one's name may be changed to Angel as I've caught the kids calling it that a couple times.

 




The black one in the back of the above photo is our dark Brahma. I've nicknamed this one PJ. It never really had a name, but always looks so scraggly, disheveled and the feathers on it's feet remind me of bedroom slippers. I'll have to get a better picture of that though because as soon as I pick it up it sits down. LOL


We are pretty well settled on at least one of these 4 being a roo. It's just a roll of the dice and even though all of them were sold to us a pullets (hens) it's a 10 to 1 chance of a boy from the breeder, and of course then you have the people who let their kids pick up the chicks and if they put it in the wrong box...well lets just say that I've found a 50/50 chance is normal hatch rates so anything better than that and you are lucky!

Only good news there is that if we have any roos it will make deciding who is staying and who is going much easier. No boys here, and I can't keep 4 more chickens...no way I could stay under the radar then!

So these have kept me busy beyond all belief but then this also happened....

Oh Boy...

As if I didn't have enough going on. She's sitting on 5 eggs. I didn't want her to have more than that. 1 has quit developing around day 6 or 7. So we have a chance at 4 ducklings. I'll keep you posted on that. Due date for hatching is around April 15th, So I'm thinking of duckling names like Uncle, Sam, Bill, Dollar, etc. Unfortunately those sound mostly male so maybe I should rethink that.

Anyone need a duckling? These ducks are absolutely gorgeous, and from what I understand good tasting, too. I can tell you this girl of mine laid an egg every single day from 22 weeks until she turned 1 year old, and then she promptly decided to sit. Even as a broody she's sweet as all get out. I can move her off the eggs and while the drake Swayze will come after me, he doesn't hurt me either.  <3 What a lovely breed. But, living on a postage stamp in an HOA means no more ducks for me...unless someone wants to trade a Welsh Harlequin baby or maybe 4 babies for a muscovy hen. Or even muscovy ducklings. I'm also willing to raise the ducklings for meat if you will come pick them up and do the butchering yourself. LOL

Nothing like Spring, huh? Babies everywhere. Good thing it's not contagious!

See you soon.

Barbie~

The Noisemakers.

Well. Today will be a week since I brought the noisy critters home. They really are good looking. The gold duck (older) is starting to molt into her adult feathers. She is the loud mouth. The smaller one does quack and is much louder than the drakes are, but she is less prone to really get the decibels up there.

So, I thought since I managed to make it a week without issues I should at least show you what they look like. Meet Cinnamon and Applesauce.

Applesauce is already nearly the same size as Cinnamon. But, cinnamon is only about 2/3 the size of the boys, if not half. I'm hoping that Applesauce ends up being closer to their size. It already worries me that having 3 boys - 2 girls is going to be a problem. I can't imagine how much worse it would be if the girls are so small and can't defend themselves from their amorous advances.

From aligning the pictures of the boys, Applesauce looks to be 6-8 weeks old now. Since the gold one is starting to molt I can tell that she is the same age as the drakes at around 11-15 weeks.

While I can't wait to see what she will look like with her adult feathers, I am desperate to get her out of my yard. Shoot, I've even thought up ways to bargain with someone to take a pair of birds in exchange for watching them until we are ready to leave. Of course I'd supply food for my flock, a little pond... and then reality kicks in. No one in their right mind would take 7 ducks to babysit for 6 weeks. Who am I kidding?

Raising the initial set of ducklings was fun, and I really enjoyed having them, but even 4 is too much to have on this little speck of land. Well, I should quantify that remark. We just don't have enough yard for them to free-range effectively without running into problems with stress on our yard/gardens. Having all of them penned up all day/night can lead to smell issues at least in the summer. Our rains keep the pens constantly moist.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that while I enjoy them, I'm glad the time is coming for them to leave. I still think that having a pair here is feasible and will be enjoyable, as long as the girl is a quiet one.

Since realizing that the (girl) ducks are much louder than I anticipated I have decided to try my hand at imprinting a bird, raising it and praying that since it is well socialized and used to everything around here it will be less likely to be so loud. So, meet Baby:


Baby is about 10 days old now. She's imprinted on us, and my girls spend a vast amount of time with her each day.

To make sure that she is also used to being alone and won't raise a ruckus because we are not right there with her 24 hours a day she also has a teddy that will be hers eternally. We make sure to leave her alone at least 2-4 hours each day around lunch time for her "nap time" as well as all night long. At first she would peep peep peep until someone came back for her. Now she might peep a time or two but settles right down.

 

I was afraid that imprinting might have the opposite effect and she wouldn't tolerate the separation, but she's learning the routine well now and it seems this may work.

I'm possibly delusional. LOL

Nah, probably delusional. :-) Hey, can't blame a girl for trying.

It's not my fault I'm a country girl living in the city. I belong on a farm. I just can't afford to move out in the country yet. But don't you worry, I have lofty goals. Goals of hard work and great rewards. Unfortunately my goals have a 10 year plan. Gotta get my kids off to college first after all. But, meanwhile I'm taking as many baby steps toward getting what I want as I can.



If this works out it will be a good step for us. If not then at least I know what type of duck(S) I want. I also know how much work it will be to have more than a breeding trio. Guess what else I know? I know not to put the duck pen up near the house. That's a good lesson I learned from this. Girl ducks think they should crow like roosters.  

I'll keep you updated on my "quiet girl" progress.

See you soon!

Barbie~