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5/23 Updates: We've been spending a little time with "Baby Boy", the most developed cockerel of the Crazy 8. My husband thinks he's the right mix of bold but friendly, like his father, but jury is still out. We'll keep trying and see what happens as his hormones start up; shouldn't be long! The...

He really was a stunner! You have lovely, lovely birds.

That sure makes me feel better about how many of Rusty's sons I have voted off of chicken island! 5 so far, and probably Circle to make 6 soon. He's really got nothing going for him; he's the cowardly knife-in-your-back kind. Every time I have to catch a hen he takes a swing at my head through...

Rusty is (I love him, of course, but) a rotten rooster in terms of human interaction. He drew blood yesterday. So I don't set much stock in his sons, and true to form, none of his sons so far have grown up nice. My broody raised all of them. However, I never invested much time in taming them so...

5/19 Updates: Daisy is "done" with the Crazy 8 Puffs. There was no drama that I observed; she is simply off to forage with the other ladies and the babies seem to know they are not explicitly invited. They stick to one another quite happily, in all the shady and convenient places she's taught...

5/16 Updates: Crazy 8 are half boys, half girls. Dora and another pullet... Front-left is the next girl... This one (below) seems to be the slightly speckled baby; her comb and wattle don't have the pink or size of the obvious cockerels so I'm pretty sure she's also a female: The boys all...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

8/9 hatched, oldest was a March 4th lay date: 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.

4/12, Hatch Day! Four eggshells, and I've seen at least three, with photos of two: Yellow, as expected: Ginger/chipmunk?! As NOT expected: How chipmunk-ish popped in from Daisy and Yorvir... or even Yorvir and Peaches... I'm at a loss!! Maybe a ginger hen slipped one in. We'll see what...

4/10 Updates: Hatch day is Friday, but that won't stop me expecting babies all day tomorrow. Ugh! The hardest part is not leaving Daisy alone but I never lift her during the last few days. As a kid we had a broody that squished a few babies partway hatched and I always blamed my elder sister's...

Oh so exciting! Are you posting progress/updates on Martha's clutch because I'd love to follow!! Daisy has never done a staggered hatch before, but usually she will willingly continue to sit on even a fully hatched clutch for two to three days. So in this case I'm not particularly concerned...

4/5 Updates: Daisy is still sitting on her 9 (unless I missed a "donation" over the last two or three days... It got cold/cool and I don’t disturb her during inclement weather), and we're just about a week from potential hatch day. I can't say enough about her calm, steady broody skills. No...

3/24: Chicken math strikes again Daisy is still sitting, but contributed one more egg to her clutch (as best I can tell; it matched her others but of course the differences between hers and her sisters' eggs are minute). I didn't have the heart to take it from her, so now she's on nine... I'm...

She spent the night sitting and is still there now! She's now on 8; six almost definitely hers (but close to a month in age since I've been collecting so long), one unknown that she was already sitting on, and one very old one from Peaches, Rusty's daughter. This last egg would unite Rusty and...

3/22 Updates: Daisy's relationship with Yorvir seems to be on the decline. I've seen her generally submit to him, just to get it over with, in past months. But suddenly now it's all Pepe Le Pew and that unfortunate black cat routine. Baby Daisy (She's always had that thoughtful, slightly judgy...

3/13 Broody Updates: Daisy and Marshmallow are still working on their commitment issues, but I'm seeing a lot of nestbox hours logged and a lot of competitive screaming and fluffing. Marshmallow keeps getting moved around thanks to her low social status: Daisy stole the favorite box today...