The Most Wonderful Thing

I looked at the rest of the eggs and guess what I found?!? A little pip in a green Ameraucana egg!! I looked some more and found a hole in a little brown egg! I stayed in the garage aaaaall evening, and after waiting, watching, and filming with the digital camera, I produced this movie. There was a lot more footage, but if I left it in, the movie would be about an hour long! So, here it is, my masterpiece: "Breaking Out; Finally Hatching". The filming wasn't too great, but hey, you get to see a chick hatching!! Now if you have any, please give me some ideas for names!

At the very end of the hatching, the camera said "Memory card full". I nearly tore my hair out, but I think I got some OK pics after it came out. I'll post updates, because as we speak, the little Ameraucana egg is hatching!

~chickengirl~

The Saddest Thing

Okay, I'm about to tell you about the saddest thing that I think has happened to me this year, so if you don't like sad stuff, do not continue:

Just a few minutes ago, I walked out to our garage. I fed and watered the chicks, as usual. And they were even bigger than the last time I saw them (yesterday), as usual. After I finished that, I went over and talked to Butterscotch, the setting hen. I gave her some food and soothing words. Then I walked around her cage and my heart stopped; lying there was a tiny, motionless chick on the floor. It had blue skin and white feathers, and was still slick. A little spot of blood was on it's head. It's body was cold, but the blood was not dry yet. I couldn't beleive it. That was our first nearly successful hatching. I mean, it at least got out of the egg. I feel like crying, but I won't. The weird thing is, we couldn't find any eggshells around the cage, but there was one less egg under Butterscotch. Isn't that odd?

Sadly signing out,
~chickengirl~

(PS- Yeah, I know the same post is on The Coop Scoop.)

Chicken and Egg Festival

So, we went to the festival, and participated in the contest. We had a fabulous design, one that no one else thought up (the were all the same... kind of strange, I admit). We made air bags for the egg to land on, but when we had reached 42", the egg was slightly blown by the wind and was accidentally skewered by a popsicle stick... Oh well. We still got to check out some cool artwork and stuff like that, and played games like Bingo (which my sister won) and the egg toss (which we didn't win). Overall, it was okay in my book. Hey, I got a T-shirt that says "I rule the roost", so I'm happy! Well, I gtr. It's late and I'M TIRED!!!!

~chickengirl~

(PS- My family and a friend got to be extras in a local independent film that premiered tonight! They made it like a big Hollywood red-carpet type of event. The movie was pretty funny. About softball. I was laughing my head off at some parts. But the best part, was that I WAS IN IT!!...okay, maybe it was about 6 seconds total, but still...gotta give me some credit! Check out My Journal for more details. I'll post about it there.)

Duck Video

Okay, these pics aren't as great as the chick pictures, because the ducks were outside...duh, and they are ducks. 'Nuff said....

Chicken and Egg Festival

This weekend we've traveled to Alabama for the annual Chicken and Egg Festival. My sister and I will be competing in the "Catch a Falling Egg" contest. We will have 30 minutes to build a device that can catch an egg dropped from four different heights, each greater than the last. There will be materials supplied, such as straws, cups, newspaper, pipe cleaners, etc., but we won't know what they actually are until we get there. We found this event on the internet (I love the web) and signed up for the contest! There are supposed to be 100 bantams, 25 breeds, brought by the same guy. Talk about a lot of chickens!! It sounds pretty fun, and I'll take lots of pics and get them on the computer.

Thanks,
~chickengirl~

(PS- I brought our laptop, so that's how I can post and put pics. Don't you love wireless?)

Quick Notice

I made a new blog! Just thought I'd let you know. It's called The Coop Scoop. Check it out! Go there.

Ducks

Vet Appointment



We got home from running errands Saturday night, and found the dog that broke into the ducks' pen snooping around the pen again. The ducks were all in the pen, but Daffy was lying on the ground....alive, thankfully. We got the flashlight and found that one duck, Dolly, had had her gashes re-opened, and the other ducks were scraped up. We got them all inside and washed them off. Dolly had huge gashes and Pearl (a crested Pekin) was slightly bloody. Daffy didn't loo good at all. His leg, we discovered, was the source of his problems. He just held it behind him, never using it. We thought it was either broken or worse: paralyzed. We called the local vet, and they didn't take poultry. So we called Animal Sciences, and just a trip down there would $140. But they gave us some names of other vets that would take "exotics". The first was a keeper. We took Daffy in, and the people were very good and very nice. They did an X-ray on Daffy, and came back with the results. No broken bones, no paralysis! Slight nerve damage, possibly, but after some pain killer, he should be okay. They gave us seven days worth of painkiller, not shots, but honey-flavored medicine. The whole trip was $150, still quite a bit, but less than the Animal Science place would have been!! Daffy is doing so much better already; using his leg little by little. Here are the X-rays:
I just thought it's cool to see a duck X-ray! (The little white spots are just stones in his gizzard)


Three Strikes and....You're Out!
Too much. When we got home from the vet, the dog was back in the pen! Third time in two weeks. We got it out quickly. It didn't hurt anybody too badly, but again Dolly's wounds were re-opened. My mom called Animal Control, finally. Sunday, we'd talked to the owners of the dog, and they said they would tie it up. But apparently, they didn't. I feel bad for them, but we haven't seen the dog since. The ducks are doing much better, especially Daffy!

Week 2

It's the beginning of week 3... We have had the chicks for 2 weeks. I can't believe it! They've grown so much since Day 1. Here's a slideshow with their pics. I figured out how to do some more neat things, so tell me what you think!

Duck Pictures

After the disaster. They're sitting on my dad's lap. Dolly has a big bloody spot, while Donald is kind of letting his head flop.

This is one of the ducks having fun in their pool. Aren't they so huge?

Duck Disaster

Sunday, I was at a birthday party, which would soon be over. As my mom stepped out of the car, I could tell something was wrong by the anxiousness in her voice as she ushered me to the car. As we drove away, she began, “Dogs got into the ducks pen today.” I stared at her. Questions and mental pictures zoomed through my brain; were they OK? Which dogs? How did they get in? “Oh my goodness! Are they OK?” was all I could say. “Well, the black ducks were bloody, but we didn’t see any broken skin. Pearl and Mallory were fine. Dolly was bleeding for a long time… and we think that Donald has a broken neck,” she finished grimly. I asked her solemnly, “Do you think he’s going to die?” “....yes.” I thought I was going to cry. “I can’t believe it.” As we rode home, we discussed what had happened. Apparently, the dogs had jumped on a hay bale and hopped right over the short wire fence. My dad heard dogs barking (which never happens) and ran outside to see dogs in the pen. I am so proud of him, because he ran out there in his socks and scared them off. They had Donald on the ground, with the others huddled in the corner. He brought them inside and washed them off. When I got home, I wanted to cry again. The five ducks were all piled on top of my dad. Dolly had a bandage wrapped around her chest, and then I saw Donald; he was sitting between my dad and my sister. An Ace bandage was wrapped around his neck, which would flop everywhere if not for my sister holding his neck. I sat with them for a long time, then it was time for bed. The ducks (excluding Donald) were taken out to the water trough. We fixed Donald a bed in a cardboard box inside a cage. Before bed, we gave him a drink of water, which he sloshed around as he tossed back his head. He slept in the bathroom, and I checked up on him every now and then….not much sleep for me. In the morning, we checked on him….and he was 200% better. He could eat, drink, move his neck, and stand. I was so happy! We put him back with the rest of the ducks. Yesterday, his bandage was off (he probably had a little help), and you could hardly tell he’d been hurt…except for the bald, bloody spot on his back. My little buff Cochin died, but I’m okay about it. Now, I’m most worried about Dolly…she lost a lot of blood. Well, I’ll keep you posted on their condition. The chicks have been flying around like little dare-devils!

~chickengirl~