Pipd's Peeps!

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Number 3 is here--and she's BLUE!!

4th baby is zipping now, and it looks like the fifth one is, too!!

 

[ronott1]

Lockdown! I went with the egg carton method for these little ones since their air cells are all over the place. I'm super nervous about how well they'll hatch, so I'll probably have my nose smushed against the window for the next three days. Come on, eggies!!

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Some sad news from today, though, especially so soon after Echo. Scooter, my last Sebright, has passed on. She went from perfectly fine and even chipper yesterday to dying this morning, and had passed on her own by noon. She was about 9 or 10 years old, I'm not entirely sure. Rest in peace, Scootie.

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[ronott1]

Number 3 is here--and she's BLUE!!

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4th baby is zipping now, and it looks like the fifth one is, too!!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Thanks, Ron! So, Baby 4 is here as of around 3:00 pm EDT. Once she was dried off and bobbling around the bator, I moved her and the other three to the baby bin brooder, where they're now all cozy under the EcoGlow for the night.


Baby 5 finally made an appearance after an agonizingly long time pipped and wiggling around in there, but... I'm not sure if she's okay. She seems pretty weak. Her yolk was fully absorbed when she popped out, but there was still some blood in the veins in her egg, and her navel is swollen and had a drop of blood on it, too. She's resting in the incubator now (one of the reasons I got the other chicks out) and we'll see how she's doing in the morning. Really hoping she finds some strength.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Baby 5 is hanging in there, but still super weak. I've been giving her drops of vitamin/electrolyte and sugar water throughout the day to see if that gives her some energy, but I'm not holding out much hope at this point. Poor baby.

But the other four are going strong and bobbling around the baby bin! Here's a short video of babies being babies. I love the little booty walking away at the end!

I've got to set up another paper towel studio to do so, but I should have some better pictures of them all dried out and fluffy soon.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Babies' first photo shoot! They're still pretty sleepy and finding their land legs, but boy are they cute!!

Going for the album cover pose, here.

...And, huddle up!

In hatch order, here are some individual shots. The April Fools' baby, with the red band:

Second to hatch is in green:

Third to hatch, the blue baby. I... didn't feel like a legband was necessary here. Look at that fluff butt!!

Fourth to hatch is in purple:

And, they were getting cold and noisy by this point, so I decided it was best to call it... the end.

 

[drumstick diva]

How do you get them to stay in place.?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Baby 5 passed on in the night. I knew it was coming and I was braced for it, but that still didn't stop me from bawling like a baby when I found her. Rest in peace, little one.

The other babies are going strong, though! Green leg band baby was being particularly noisy in that 'unhappy baby' sort of way, so I gave her a few drops of vitamin/electrolyte and sugar water, too, just in case. Well, after the first few drops, she began seeking it out desperately, and then it clicked in my brain that she was noisy because she hadn't figured out the waterer yet! WHOOPS! So I moved the water dish so that it would catch the light a bit better and I showed her what to do, and she drank for a bit on her own and seems happy now. ❤ The rest of them have been drinking fine on their own, but I watched to make sure again that they were ALL drinking now. Precious little squirts.

How do you get them to stay in place.?

Haha, I don't! My camera has a high shutter speed setting, so I keep it set to that and hold it ready while I kind of nudge them into place. Then I quickly snap a picture before they decide it's time to bobble off again.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Good morning! ❤

Most of the babies are a week old today (April Fool's baby, seen above, was a week old yesterday, of course ), so there will be pictures. For the time being, here's what they've been up to these days. UGH! Good thing I had the presence of mind to line the EcoGlow with press n seal this time!

It's about time for the big move out of the baby bin and into a REAL brooder (if you couldn't tell by all the POOP! ), though that may hinge upon whether I can get some pine shavings today... So, we'll see. Anyway, if they make the big move, I'll probably do their week-old pictures in their new brooder.



Speaking of annual / regular picture taking, we're approaching last year's Easter babies' hatchday, and we've already passed the OEGB babies hatchday! I kept thinking I should get pictures of them, but the weather has been uncooperative half the time and I've been preoccupied the other half. Anyway, I'll be getting their pictures soon, though unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to get the supplies around for a hatchday party like I used to do. I've been busy the past couple years around hatchday party time and had to skip them, so I was really looking forward to doing it again this year. Oh, well. There's always later in the summer, if I remember to by then!





EDIT: Oh, goodness, I slept like a rock and nearly forgot to add the event that happened last night!

So, a few days ago, Rufus and Roscoe had it out and Rufus was really beating up the old guy, so I separated him. I mention this only to show what my mindset was at the time.

Last night, I heard a ruckus from the other rooster flock, and looked over to see Dante and Murphy having it out. UGH! Thinking it was just the season or something getting the boys all stirred and fighting like this, I started walking that direction to see if I could break them up. That's when I spotted Darwin, hanging by a spur on the fence.



Not sure how exactly he pulled it off, because the way his leg was hooked made it seem like he was facing away from the fence when it happened. Based on Roscoe's comb, I'm guessing he was trying to fight with the little guy through the fence (this is routine--Rufus's attacks were not) and that's when it happened. He was hanging so that his other foot just barely was touching the ground, and the area between his front toes and hallux was bleeding from rubbing the fence. It was... quite a sight.

Anyway, so I shooed Roscoe and Russell back into their coop and closed them in so that I could work on Darwin unimpeded. I grabbed the big guy, who panicked, of course, and began to work his foot around to pop it loose when Murphy collided with me. Not sure what got into him, but I have some thoughts that I'll go into below. Anyway, I batted Murph away, got Darwin loose, and made sure he was okay. No limping or anything, and not much oxygen gets to that pea brain of his anyway, judging from past events with that knucklehead, so even if he was having trouble breathing while hanging like that, I think he'll be fine.

As for Murphy. I have two theories as to why he may have flown into me. The first is that he thought I was attacking Dar and was trying to attack him as well, and hit me instead. The second, and more likely to me based on his past behavior, is that he thought I was attacking Dar and was trying to defend him. Dar and Murph are pretty close. I'd even go as far as to call them buddies. I think the reason that Murph and Dante were having it out beforehand was because Dante tried to take advantage of Dar being stuck like that by attempting to fight him, and Murphy intervened then as well. Either way, I don't think this was cause for Murph to be removed or anything. This was a very unusual circumstance and I've taken steps to prevent it from happening again, so I don't think I have to worry about Murphy flying into me again.

So, long story short, I've joined the 'My Rooster Hung Himself by a Spur' Club. Of course, it had to be Darwin.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Way late and I'm super tired, but the babies made their big move today! They've gone from the ~1.5 x 2 foot baby bin to a ~3 x 3 foot tarp brooder--and they have no idea what to do with themselves!

Here's the progression from not being so sure of the pine shavings to discovering scratching.

And, it's official... The feeder and waterer will never be free of shavings again.


Anyway, here are the babies' one-week-old pictures!

April Fool's baby (who is actually 1 week and 1 day old)

Green band baby:

Blue baby, or so I thought! So, taking a look at her feathers that are coming in, I believe this baby is actually recessive white! She's also got something weird going on with her feet so I might have to do some sort of makeshift shoe to fix that... Basically, her outer toes are under her feet so she walks on them? It's... odd.

Purple band baby, the last to hatch. That tiny comb...

And... Oh, boy, a bunch more pics! Basically... a lot of cuteness around the EcoGlow. I'm tired, y'all, so here they are:

Good night, everyone!