Rusty Bucket Farm

[fuzzi]

8/9 hatched, oldest was a March 4th lay date:
View attachment 3800469
View attachment 3800473
She stopped sitting on the last one around noon, it was a 3/1 egg.

Peaches egg was (edit: NOT) one of the hatchlings, so these are not at all related to Rusty. Big shame, but all cute and belong to Yorvir.

Adorable!

 

[CoopBoots]

4/21 Updates:

The "Crazy Eight Puffs" are doing amazingly. So much personality. One crouches for me when I handle it (no idea what's up, hen-chick or just super submissive? I didn't know they could/would do that prior to reproductive onset), one or two bite and fight, another couple will just sit on your hand once you catch them. They only need handling at bedtime. The gingerish chipmunk is Dora the Explorer, with a slight penchant for getting herself stuck away from mom, and everyone else girly will get a D name, eventually, in honor of their lovely momma.

I gave Peppa, the pretty little black broody, three eggs and one so far was broken (by me) when extricating donated eggs... so she is sitting on two now, one belonging to Rusty and one of his Buff ladies, and the other to Circle and Kazooie.

She began sitting a day or two post crazy-eight hatching, so rough estimate is a May 3 - 5 hatch date...

 

[CoopBoots]

4/23 baby updates:

It was a beautiful day for everyone, really...

My phone botched this tender moment, but wanted to save the outline of the scene for a drawing later on:

Roosters can be so tender, at times. Yorvir isn't a saint with the ladies but I see a lot of potential. I think if he were not constant agitated by Circle's proximity he would mellow into a grand lover and father. He's been very accepting of the babies; I just wish he'd understand that Daisy won't want him until these babies are grown.

Rusty's been more aggressive of late, so good photos are much harder to get, but he's clearly feeling well and his hens are the picture of ease. He's a gentle, trusted guardian. Age and experience are absolutely a positive, even with reduced fertility.

 

[CoopBoots]

4/26 baby update:

One of the crazy puffs seems to have an eye injury or something developing...

Normal:

Problem:

It's so, so mild you probably can barely make it out here, but there's a tiny cloudy dot in the center of its right eye. The entire eye itself might be a little clouded as well. There's also a trace, and I mean a tiny trace, of swelling all around this eye which is actually how I spotted the issue. Looking into the face beak-first, it seems lopsided or "popped" out just a bit.

Poor baby. It was so calm and complacent, and almost non-reactive, that I couldn't determine if it can actually see on that side. It gratefully drank some egg yolk as a treat, and it hasn't been getting lost that I've seen, but I'm really going to have to observe this baby to ensure it's actually getting what it needs...

It's been marked with a little black legband/zip tie that I'll watch closely for removal.

 

[fuzzi]

4/26 baby update:

One of the crazy puffs seems to have an eye injury or something developing...

Normal:
View attachment 3813173
Problem:
View attachment 3813174
It's so, so mild you probably can barely make it out here, but there's a tiny cloudy dot in the center of its right eye. The entire eye itself might be a little clouded as well. There's also a trace, and I mean a tiny trace, of swelling all around this eye which is actually how I spotted the issue. Looking into the face beak-first, it seems lopsided or "popped" out just a bit.

Poor baby. It was so calm and complacent, and almost non-reactive, that I couldn't determine if it can actually see on that side. It gratefully drank some egg yolk as a treat, and it hasn't been getting lost that I've seen, but I'm really going to have to observe this baby to ensure it's actually getting what it needs...

It's been marked with a little black legband/zip tie that I'll watch closely for removal.

@Wyorp Rock do you know anything about eye issues?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

4/26 baby update:

One of the crazy puffs seems to have an eye injury or something developing...

Normal:
View attachment 3813173
Problem:
View attachment 3813174
It's so, so mild you probably can barely make it out here, but there's a tiny cloudy dot in the center of its right eye. The entire eye itself might be a little clouded as well. There's also a trace, and I mean a tiny trace, of swelling all around this eye which is actually how I spotted the issue. Looking into the face beak-first, it seems lopsided or "popped" out just a bit.

Poor baby. It was so calm and complacent, and almost non-reactive, that I couldn't determine if it can actually see on that side. It gratefully drank some egg yolk as a treat, and it hasn't been getting lost that I've seen, but I'm really going to have to observe this baby to ensure it's actually getting what it needs...

It's been marked with a little black legband/zip tie that I'll watch closely for removal.

@Wyorp Rock do you know anything about eye issues?

Oh, I see the little dot. Perhaps she got pecked in the eye. It does look a bit irritated. A peck or getting something in the eye can cause infection or conjunctivitis sometimes.
You can put a little Terramycin eye ointment in the eye at least once daily to see if that helps. Use saline to flush out/clean the eye as needed.

Cute Chick!

 

[CoopBoots]

5/6 Updates:

Rusty is a dad, again!

This was a difficult hatch; one of three eggs was broken by me early on, the second had a long drawn-out hatch process that did not end happily (and truthfully I only saw the aftermath, not the details. I'm assuming something was wrong with that baby and she threw the partially hatched egg away...), and this one was chilling with mama when I came to throw her off of the nest and get rid of the last egg almost two days later! I'm struggling to trust her and the rest of this subflock with this singleton; she worked hard to hatch it so I think she's earned the chance, though. If this one is not well cared for I will not allow Peppa (or anyone) in this group to sit again.

The crazy eight are huge and thriving...

Dora (the chipmunky partridgey baby in front) has feathered in Buff in her chest, so I'm betting on female. The most obvious boy is the one behind her. You won't see the rest because they wander far from Daisy now!! I think there are 3 boys and 5 girls, but I'm sure there will be at least one more slower boy stealthing in the lot. I've been sick so no updates on the one with the injured eye. I'll try and get a close look this evening.

 

[CoopBoots]

Crazy 8 sexing photos:

I see four almost definite boys. Leftmost is my eye-troubled baby. He's a little worse looking, but acting perfectly normal. The one asleep just behind him could still be a pullet...

I think these three are the girls:

Much more realistic guess than 5 pullets; who would be that lucky! Certainly not me here on Rusty Bucket Farm!!

So we tentatively have Dora, Dahlia, and Daffodil, and the flower-named girls would be my future broody hopefuls as direct descendents of my most reliable broody, Daisy. If that one iffy boy is actually a girl, we'll have a Dandelion, too.

Family Photo:

Daisy was busy huffing and puffing and swearing at that nasty cockerel-just-turned-rooster, Yorvir, the father of her beautiful chicks. How dare he try to sit next to her!!! She STILL won't forgive him for replacing Rusty, and I feel a little bad about it, but I think as he mellows and gives her more chicks she'll finally warm up to him. He has a wonderful disposition with humans and so does she, so I'm hopeful we'll get some sweethearts out of this clutch...