The chicks are no longer really chicks. The other day as a I let them out I realised that they really are now mini adults. There's still a bit of filling out to do, but they're now in proportion, and have a full set of feathers. They now sleep with the big chickens in the main house, though usually have to be persuaded to go in each night. Cav in particular is less keen on going in, she's much flightier than the other birds, not helped by the fact that I have no idea how she see's anything. We think she's a she, slightly harder to judge than with the other two as there's no redder comb, but the puff of feathers on her head seems the right shape for a female. I've not been able to find Cav for most of the day, normally the 3 younger chickens go around together in a group, but all day I've only seen the 2 pekins. Then this afternoon I came across her having a whale of a time. This is one of our raised vegetable beds.... that pile of soil was formerly on the raised bed. I don't think Mum will be best pleased when she sees that the path is now buried under a pile of soil! It also gives you a nice sense of how big Cav is, she's much taller than the other chickens, but still a bantam, so pretty tiny in comparison to full size chickens. Do you see what I mean about the eyes.... they're in there somewhere! Meanwhile the other 2 were having an afternoon siesta, I actually woke Wiggo up taking this photo! I don't think she was too impressed. I love how she now looks like a walking feather duster! Wiggo's definitely a girl as well, look how much redder Froome's comb is, Boyo will have some competition next spring for his harem of ladies.
I'm quite looking forward to the results of a Pekin/Polish cross that hairdo, and those feathery legs could be a winning combination in the ridiculous stakes. The chicks are growing up fast, their Mm has decided she's had enough of looking after them and for a while bedtimes involved much confusion for everyone involved. The main flock sleep in the large house, and the chicks and mum had a temporary box to live in, with the intention that when they were older they'd all move in to the main house. Mum however has decided she's going back to living in the main house at night. Cav did try to follow her, but the other hens were having none of it and made their feelings on the matter very clear. The chicks were 7 weeks old so a bit young to stand up for themselves and establish their place in the pecking order, so now have the box all to themselves at night. For a while night times have been rather confusing, the chicks couldn't understand where their Mum had gone to, this is Cav on top of the chicken shed, calling for his Mum. Not the clearest photo, but it was dim light, and the little blighter never stays still for a nano-second. This is slightly clearer and gives you a real idea of how ridiculous his quiff is, in the wet weather we've had recently he's ended up looking very bedraggled. This is Cav trying to follow his Mum and gives a real sense of the constant blur of motion, he's never still, always on the go. He also has the longest neck! And finally, because Cav does tend to hog the limelight, and bully his siblings here are the other 2. Now named Froome (the smooth one) and Wiggo (the frizzle). Poor Wiggo looks like an example of what happens when you plug a chicken in to an electric socket! They're much less outgoing than their bigger sibling, but still very cute.
The chicks haven't been very well reccently, on Thursday they started sneezing, and by Friday poor Cav was so ill that he'd been left behind by his Mum as he was too sniffly to cheep. We spent over an hour retrieving him from the holly hedge he'd hidden in, and he then spent the weekend getting gradually worse. I'm a hands off person when it comes to animal care mostly, I don't like to pump them with medication as often things get better of their own accord given good food, and a bit of time, but in ths case a little chick didn't have enough resources to fight a probable case of pneumonia. By Monday I was on the phone to the vets for antibiotics and was syringing them in to Cav on an hourly basis along with some yoghurt. As quicly as he got sick, he's got better, and while they're still sneezing, they've been well enough last night and this afternoon to be let out of the run and to have chance to scratch about and have a dust bath. Their Mum in particular was rather keen to get out, she's hated being confined for several days, and has been leading them everywhere. They're starting to develop wing feathers so have added leaping power now. The others in particular have been taking advanatge of the empty run to examine the teampting treats the chicks have been eating.
I'm back safely from Woolfest. Not without adventure, Mum came down with a bug on Saturday morning, and I'm not insured to drive our camper van so my wonderful Dad spent the day driving north in my car so we could all get home again. Woolfest itself was very, very busy. It's always been a fantastic show, but this year seemed to be very special, a lovely variety of stalls, and a gret atmosphere. Here's my stall on the Saturday morning It didn't look anywhere near this full by the end of Saturday. I'm at Fbre East in a months time so will be very busy making stock to take with me. There are however a few things I've bought back that are looking a little tired around the edges, much like me! I'm doing what I usually do and I'll be having a pot luck sale. It will be on the website rather than on Etsy,at some point later on this week. I'll send out an email to the mailing list to let everyone know exactly when. For those of you not around the last time I did one, it's £6 per item, but you don;t get any say in what you get sent. Everything will be perfectly spinable, just no longer looking it's best. There will also be a few fibre club spares to go along with the old show stock. While I was away the chickens seem to have grown so quickly. Cav now has the start of his silly head feathers, but even the pekins are developing wings. Here they are getting their first taste of alpine strawberries. and poor Cav, looking ever more ridiculous!
Time seems to be flying by at the moment. Woolfest seemed a long way away this time last week, but the van is now packed, and first thing tomorrow we head north. It doesn't help that the chicks seem to be growing by the hour, these photos are from yesterday, and Cav in particular look different again today, he's even got a tail. The pekin chicks have finally developed wing feathers, and I can already tell that one is going to be a frizzle variety, so is going to look like it's been attacked with a crimping iron, I think the other one will be plain though. Taking photos of them is becoming an awful lot harder, they move so quickly, and aren't so keen on humans anymore. If I appear they usually head for cover, which is just the right instinct to develop given the amount of crows and buzzards in our valley. This is about the best close up I could get of Cav, those long legs mean he moves incredibly fast. You can already get a sense of the adult patterning he's going to have, but he's not quite reached that awkward teenager stage. This the best shot I got of the others, their wings are just starting to come through. And get to close, and they're off!
The observant of you will notice there's only 3 chicks in this picture. Unfortunately 1 of the chicks died 2 days ago. It's unfortunate, but not unexpected, it's not often an entire clutch of eggs grows to adulthood. I'm concentrating on the 3 I have, and trying not to dwell on the 1 who didn't make it. I leave for Woolfest tomorrow so there will be a bit of a gap in blog posts. Meanwhile head over to the Ravelry group, the Win It thread closes at midnight on Sunday. Just post a picture of the yarn you've spun using Hilltopcloud fibre and you could win yourself a prize. The Tour de Fleece also starts on Saturday, there is a HilltopCloud team, and it's not too late to join us. The chicks are growing up fast! These are from a few days ago when then got their first outing in to the wide world. They're growing more brave by the hour, but quel surprise it's Cav who seems to wander off most. He/She is also getting adult feathers quickest, his/her wings are already fully feathered, gone is the cute fluffy down :( Their Mum spends most of her time finding seeds, bugs and other lovelies for them. When she gets going the soil flies everywhere! It's amazing what they can fit in to such a little beak. This worm didn't stand a chance. They spend a lot of time hiding out in the strawberry bed, which is good as last year we were plagued with slugs eating the strawberries.
The chicks seem to be rather popular (understandably so!), and lots of people want to see more pictures. They're out in a run in the garden now, and have just started to venture out. This is one of the Pekins, complete with fluffy feet! This is the first to hatch, remember how I said he/she was going to be trouble? Well turns out there was a mix up in the eggs I'd ordered, and this little chick is actual a Polish rather than a Pekin... Unfortunately the poor dear is going to continue getting even funnier looking, pictures of adults here. Gwen loves the new additions. When we first got the chickens she was obsessed with them, and sat lookng at their cage for hours. Even now she still has to come and help collect the eggs. Here she is with Cav She spends most of the day by the cage, watching, and no it's not that she wants to eat them, though I won't trust her unsupervised with free rnage chicks for a while.
After 3 long weeks the chicks are finally hatching. Six eggs went under a chicken, and 4 look to be fertile. Today was D-Day but even then this little one took us by surprise. She/He must have hatch out in the early hours of this morning I tok until after lunchtime for a brother/sister to manage to join the party. Here's a freshly hatched picture. Meanwhile the speedy chicken, now affectionately nicknamed Cav after cyclist Mark Cavendish, was already showing off! All fluffed up, and ready for fun, I think this one is going to be trouble! That's definitely the look of a worn out Mum!
More pictures of all the chicks when they hatch, probably won't be until tomorrow morning. |
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