Rusty Bucket Farm

[CoopBoots]

3/31 Updates:

We've got anonymous eggs from Yorvir's flock (one was laid by Daisy yesterday but no clue which):

• Circle
• Star/Asterisk
• Square
• Triangle
• Question mark

I collected identified eggs on the same day (so no repeats) from:

• Noodle (almost definite)
• Euphrate (definite)
• Dusty (definite)
• Cathy (definite)

And I added one from Chicken Jane, who lays an unmistakable white egg.

So 10.

Chicken Jane is a pure Leghorn, and her eggshells are pretty weak. I'm not super optimistic but husband wanted us to try. It probably won't hatch, along with Noodles, and Dusty's is very small. So it is a lot like I only gave her seven, right?!

Daisy has been placed in my chosen nesting location, due to Gubbles using his fluffy buttocks to fill every next box at night. No one can brood in there with his nightly antics. Daisy isn't too happy but wants to sit enough that she'll stay until she goes on a break, whereupon she tries to escape back to the main coop. So I'm having to manage her breaks to prevent nest swapping.

Today is officially day 1 for the first 5, and day 0 for the ones I just added. Hatch date of the 20th, then, for the earliest ones?

 

[CoopBoots]

4/15 Updates:

Grande is off to a new home to replace an aggressive rooster:

He was selected specifically due to being easy to handle and safe to move around during chores. His only fault was getting bad ideas about Noodle. Noodle is sacrosanct in the flock and even Yorvir has realized she is essentially "off limits" of his own accord. I guess he realizes she is different, and not a likely reproductive candidate, whereas a desperate cockerel will take what he can.

Ding Dong, his almost-twin brother, is remaining in a separate jail with one of my last naughty escape artist hens for company. He seems very happy despite the restricted space, so I may set him up more permanently to enjoy the company of any other willful hens.

In broody news, well, there isn't any. Daisy didn't take to the new location and is surprisingly back in lay already. I've had other growly pullets and hens but no one is sticking. I blame flock unrest due to Gubbles, the little terror. I've seen much worse but the entire flock wishes him gone. I am determined, as long as he leaves Noodle be, to have him for Rusty's legacy.

Poor Rusty can't have that much time left; I think he lives on out of his spiteful nature Gubbles isn't much better but has Yorvir to keep him in line...

I'm low on photos so here is Noodle tax. She will NOT leave you be unless you are giving her scritches. I've almost stepped on her a few times because she teleports to your boots and then tries to scratch them with her feet for attention!!

 

[fuzzi]

4/15 Updates:

Grande is off to a new home to replace an aggressive rooster:
View attachment 4099178
He was selected specifically due to being easy to handle and safe to move around during chores. His only fault was getting bad ideas about Noodle. Noodle is sacrosanct in the flock and even Yorvir has realized she is essentially "off limits" of his own accord. I guess he realizes she is different, and not a likely reproductive candidate, whereas a desperate cockerel will take what he can.

Ding Dong, his almost-twin brother, is remaining in a separate jail with one of my last naughty escape artist hens for company. He seems very happy despite the restricted space, so I may set him up more permanently to enjoy the company of any other willful hens.

In broody news, well, there isn't any. Daisy didn't take to the new location and is surprisingly back in lay already. I've had other growly pullets and hens but no one is sticking. I blame flock unrest due to Gubbles, the little terror. I've seen much worse but the entire flock wishes him gone. I am determined, as long as he leaves Noodle be, to have him for Rusty's legacy.

Poor Rusty can't have that much time left; I think he lives on out of his spiteful nature Gubbles isn't much better but has Yorvir to keep him in line...

I'm low on photos so here is Noodle tax. She will NOT leave you be unless you are giving her scritches. I've almost stepped on her a few times because she teleports to your boots and then tries to scratch them with her feet for attention!!
View attachment 4099183

Good roosters need to be rewarded. Glad to hear it.

 

[CoopBoots]

4/22 Updates:

It was a lovely Easter. Prettiest I've seen in years, and the weather continues mostly fair.

Alisae: I am NOT BROODY, stop TOUCHING ME!!

Sorsha: I will bite if I have to... (sitting for her third straight day, definitely broody, but has been displaced by Alisae)

Her little face just melts me.

I don't have Sorsha on any eggs she'll get to keep. Being broody has been problematic this year thanks to Gubbles hiding out in nestboxes and Blue terrorizing every pullet by running them out of their spots whenever she finds them. Gubbles has, therefore, been cast into the cockerel jail nightly and Blue has joined Peppa and Marshmallow within Ding Dong's area. He couldn't be happier, and Blue seems outranked by both older hens. Things calmed down a huge amount with these small adjustments, so I'll see if I can find anything local to try hatching...

Trying to evaluate Yorvir's "form":

He isn't quite a squirrel-tail, I don't think, but it is close. Too high going by a Leghorn standard anyway. His back also slopes downward which is (probably?) a fault by any standard but maybe a Serama, haha. His wingtips are always held down at an extreme angle vs. horizontal, which seems to be another popular fault in most standards (from the tiny bit I have read. Why does he remind me so much of Serama posture?! Lol) He's broken many of his sickles, too, so his tail doesn't balance his lopsided looks much either.

However, I will say that his personality is stellar and he's only improved with time. And since I'm not in the purebred business, this is more important to me than pretty much anything else. But it is worth noting that his progeny could be selected for better body shape, should personality also align.

 

[lightm]

Sorsha is so fluffy and pretty. You are right about her melting face.

 

[fuzzi]

You should submit that picture of Alisae on the POW thread!

Yorvir is very handsome.