Another one.....

bites the dust.

Kainen came in with tears this morning that one of the baby chickies was dead. Uhg. It was one of the Golden Sex Links. She better not be picking them off one by one. Either that or I need to coop the rooster up separately. Blah.

Meet yer mama cheep cheep!

Well, its been a busy week for me with clincals this week. It was a peds week, so on Tuesday I was at a developmental preschool, and then Wednesday at a pediatricians office.

Chickies were due to the feed store on Wednesday morning.....you can see my dilema.....school....chickies. So, I compromised. Took an hour lunch and got chickies at the store and home to meet mama. Here are the pics I took of that. There were 3 Auracaunas (but the receipt said Australorp, so not sure.....) and 2 Golden Sex Linked (meaning you can tell if they are a boy or a girl at birth by their color, these are all girls).







Mama wasn't sure what to think , and the babies sure as heck didn't know what to do, so they sat there and cheeped. She walzted away with her 4 babies clucking, but the new 5 were clueless. So I grabbed them all and shoved them into the coop and shut the door and hoped for the best. I quicky realized the new babies still didn't know what to do, so I opened it up and shoved them all under mama hen. Everyone seemed to stay put. So closed the door, gave some water to the rooster (no one has guessed his name yet....don't forget, mama is Benny) and went back to the clinic.

That night when I got home, I let everyone out and she seemed a bit more attending to the new ones. The golden sex links blended in well, but the black ones weren't. So, back in the coop, under mama they all went, and the roo went too.

The next morning everyone came out and she started pecking at the black ones. So I took them away from her. I was ticked. This was not in my plans. So here are the babies in their new home...in my bathroom.



Then I took everyone out for pics, and sat them next to golf balls for size comparison. LOL

Here is one of the Banty Buff Orps from Benny



Here is one of the Golden Sex Links from the feed store. They are a tad bigger than the others, with a few darker streaks here and there. A couple days older too based on their wing feathers.



And the black one



And then for some scratching time, I took the three orphans to a dirt patch with rolly pollys. It was quite cute and funny. One would grab it, run off and get chased by the other one. I could tell at this point one of the babies wasn't well.....



Shelbie was more than interested, and there were some slobbers on the babies afterwards..LOL





I took them in and fed them some worms from my vermicompost bin. THAT was hillarious. One would grab it, the other would run to it, grab it and a tug of war ensued. Never mind there were two others wriggling away. LOL

Later that night we moved them to the garage because we can't keep girl outta the bathroom and I didn't want her to get them. I realized one wasn't going to make it. I shed a few tears for sure. I felt really bad. It was gone the next morning. =( I had school that day, so off I went.

CAme home to an empty box. I was torked. Someone left the garage door open and the cats got the other two. Argh.

but now, there are three more at my moms house being fostered by her. LOL She got the last four at the feed store, one died on the way home. She's built them a box for outside trips and everything. I wonder if they'll ever come here? LOL

The other 6 out there are growing in wing feathers and so cute. They are scratching around and just a hoot to watch. Highly entertaining for me. =) My mom took her camera home so no new pics. But I'll get some in the next few days.

Two days old!

Mama took the babies out and about today. Gads they are cute. I really need to get a golf ball to compare their size. LOL

Eating oatmeal out of an oyster can. What better way than to jump right on top?





Daddy doesn't seem to mind them scurrying under him for a warm up. But I just missed the shot.



I dug up some dirt with roly polys and worms for them to scratch through.







ahh......they are so cute!! HOpefully if all works out I will be adding a few more in tomorrow after clinicals!

Here they are!

Proud mama daring me to look.....



All dry and fuzzy!



Iden helping me model .......







They keep trying to peck at her eyes....they are attracted to shiny objects, its too cute and I could watch for hours!!!

4 cheeps!!!!!!

All the babies hatched and they are CUTE and fuzzy!! I got some cute pics to put up later on. I'm bushed from a long weekend and have homework for tomorrow.

Hmm...still one cheep

But man oh man, dry , fuzzy, and cheeps when I peek. Adorable. Probably a roo with my luck. LOL

There is one egg pipped, a bit more than what it was last night....when I peeked again. ;) Since they weren't technically due until later today, I'm not too worried. But I was dissapointed for sure. I'll head to the feed store when I am done with my long day with Miss Moses Lake stuff and grab a few more to add to the nest. =) I'll post pictures then too.

Cheep cheep cheep!!!!!!

Okay, one cheep........weeee!!!!!!! Its all wet and cheepin away. I couldn't resist one last peek before heading to bed. OMG, I am so excited. Its sooo cute and looks just like mamma! Well, the same color anyway. A darker than yellow....perhaps Buff?? As in Buff Orpington? http://www.cacklehatchery.com/bufforpingtonbantam.html I am so stinking excited. I fully expect to see 4 babies in the morning. I didn't stay long enough to fully inspect what the other eggs were doing. I figured I was invading enough. But its my first hatch dang it and I couldn't help it!!!

Gardening!

So, after braving lifting Benny off her eggs, to satifsy my urge to see if there was anything going on, (there wasn't) I decided to hit the garden since it was an absolutely beautiful day. I got my onion sets planted (6 squares!!) and several kinds/squares of lettuce, a couple kinds/squares of carrots, likewise for spinach, several squares of peas, beets......whatelse.......but nearly the entire box!!!

And squares you ask?? I made a square foot garden last year http://www.squarefootgardening.com/ . While I did enjoy many things out of it, summer laziness won out in the end. LOL But I didn't get nearly this early of a start either. So we'll see where it goes. Oh, I forgot, a few squares of cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower as well.

I have seeds sprouting in the kitchen for the other bed in several weeks. our last frost free date isn't until Memorial Day in the area.....and in my little pocket, the first week of June. oye. I bet my seedlings will be dead of neglegt (I've tried fifty ways of spelling that, and they all look wrong.....) by then.

But hey, at least I'll have 8 week old chicks by then!!! ROFL

The anticipation is killing me.....

Argh. I can't seem to stop watching the coop for four little heads to p0ke out. LOL

Grrr....

So, my chick plans are falling through......

Got a call from the feed store that the ones I ordered to arrive this weekend won't be here till next month. Cancel that one.

Then my neighbors daughter called about the hens they were to be bringing me and the gal they are getting them from doesn't have any extras. Uhg.

At least I still have 4 about to hatch. The other feed store has some of the Easter Egg chickens I really want, so I'll get some after these chicks hatch out. And maybe a couple more. ;)

I've been bit!!

By the chick bug that is.....in preparation for the great hatch of '08 this weekend, I've ordered 6 foster babies for Benny to arrive within the same time frame.....if I've calculated correctly that is. She will have 6 breeds of chicks to raise by Monday. LOL I am so excited. Now to plant a pasture area for them on the side of the house. I can't wait!!! They are gonna be spoiled for sure.

Links to egg cams

So you can gain some excitement for next weekend. ;) Since I have no webcam under my chicken. LOL

http://farmcam.hobby-site.com/

http://lancaster.unl.edu/4h/Embryology/eggcamera.shtml

1 week to chickies!!

Candled the eggs again last night and you can definately tell there is something growing in there. The boys were less than interested, considering daddy had just brought them home a new game for the PS2. But I thought it was cool. Could even see them moving a bit.

Beyond that, its a nice day outside. I want to get out and enclose the other chicken coop. My former neighbor should be bringing me 3 hens next weekend or sometime. I just want it ready. Need to get some straw for their coop and nesting box as well.

Let it begin!!

So Monday started the (some say) 18 week marathon to LPN-hood. We have no break between the end of spring quarter and beginning of summer quarter. So in like........17 weeks, or 4 months, I will be far enough in my schooling to be a nurse! Oye. Odd. LOL

We had two tests on Monday, both of which I passed, and then started clinicals again on Tuesday and Wednesday. This time at the hospital here in town for me. Upside is the fact that I can leave 15 minutes before having to be there, as opposed to like 45 minutes before. When your start time is 0630, this is a very good thing. LOL The down side it, there was no orientation for some of us there. So I felt completely lost on Tuesday, but feel I more than made up for it on Wednesday. We all kept our instructor running since we can't do diddly squat without her there watching us. LOL

Today is running around gearing up for the Japan trip fundraisers for Miss Moses Lake. Blah. Not how I wanted to spend my day off, but I'll take one for the team. Tomorrow it is back to class! All stinking day. 9-4. But its pediatrics, so it should be fun. Lab on Monday, we get to bring one child with us for observing developmental levels. I think Jantzen will be my best candidate for that.

And my chickcountdown is nearing single digits!!!! Weee!!!!!! I'll candle them on Saturday night to see how they are growing. =)

Toodles!