Circle of Life stuff

welp.. Lessons learned...

Momma hens will sometimes overprotect their chick..to death, if they feel their babies are threatened. They try desperately to get the little one under them by pecking at them. As we all know, pecking another chicken usually leads to the demise of it. Where do you think the term "Hen-Pecked" comes from! So.. I lost my little Mille Fleur Cochin to an over protective new mom. Many sads. BUT, Lynne of Wingshadows Hacienda saved the day. I was able to actually purchase a beautiful started pair of Mille Fleur Cochins from her. *WOOT* So, please, meet Albert and Marie...

I have them separated out of the main flock and have also put Hedwig, our Frizzle white cochin in with them--just for fun! :) That SHOULD give us some fun frizzle Calico cochins...

Update on some happenins happenin' around here...

Well, we have 3 new baby white cochins ~ 2 with a silkie mama, and one with a serama mama..(haha, is your mama a serama?). I am really happy to have them, as I won't be able to get any more where they came from. These little cuties came from Potter and Hedwig--and Potter had to go live on another farm--I want to concentrate on Seramas and Mille Fleur Cochins.. You can only have SO many roosters! Since White Cochins show well, I thought it would be nice to have some around for Cam. As you may remember, Hedwig is a frizzle cochin, and Potter has smooth feathers, so chances are good that maybe one of the babies will be frizzled. :)

I also had bought some eggs from a breeder of Mille Fleur cochins -- Wingshadows Hacienda -- who has GORGEOUS birds. Well, my inexperience got the best of me and I lost all but one egg, and that one hatched JUST today. I am really happy to have this little chick, I love the Mille Fleur coloring, I can't wait to pick up a few more cochins in this pattern! There are quite a few people working on this coloring, so there are some very beautiful cochins out there.

Also, Diane's eggs look to be ready to hatch Very Soon. I had calculated them to start hatching early this week, got worried because there has been NOTHING happening.. no pips .. NUTHIN'! I took advantage of her bath time and quickly candled a coupla eggs, and guess what? There's stuff movin' around in them. Yay!

I will post pictures of the new batch of babies soon, promise!

The garden is doing surprisingly well this year, even with all the rain we have been getting. Well, I guess because mostly what I have growing right now is lettuces, spinach, peas.. all of which love this weather.. But, hey, it makes my green thumb feel pretty successful! lol! Hopefully we will get some sun soon to make the REST of the garden happy!

miscellania

Cameron painting the supers for the new hive.

A baby Serama.. They move so fast, it's hard to get a picture!

An Amigo, feathering in nicely! Beautiful girl! A little long in the bill, but nice cheeks. :D

The 3 Amigos--the two in the back are female, and the one in front is a male.

Introducing CeeCee,

she is a silkie Serama

gonna put her with Romeo pretty soon. :)

look, how cozy this nest is when Mom is off.. there are 7 eggs buried in there under that down. Mom needed some quality Mom time.. takin' a bath. Where's the candles??

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A small fluffy miracle

Here is Lucky Duck hatching.. I probably did EVERYTHING wrong...She wasn't hatching on her own at all. So, I zipped her shell and kept her moistened with warm water, dripped into her shell with a syringe. The other duck in the incubator had already died during hatch, so I was determined that this little one was going to make it. That's the reason I took the chance to 'help'--which goes against the rules.

But here she is a day or two later.. :)

And with her new friend Quackers--on 'permanent loan' to us so that Lucky has a friend. :) (Lucky has the eyeliner, Quackers is a white call duck, so has no markings)