Almost ready!

First - Let me just say that I thought rechargeable batteries should last a little over a year. I guess mine don't - Because after finally finding my charger, and charging the camera - The batteries are still dying, then dead. Sigh. Sooo. . . . No new photos.

Anyway, I'm just 3 eggs away from being completely ready for incubation! I think what I am going to do is basically stick all my current ones in at midnight, then nab the last 3 the next morning and quickly sneak them in then. Hopefully that will leave a small enough time-gap to not worry of.

Oh! And my Wyandottes - They're all colored and recognizable now! Hahah - I marked the secondary feathers on each of their wings, and now they each have individual colors and names according to the colors. The markers, don't worry, are non-toxic and have been used in this situation before. They last for months, even though northwestern winter rain, and don't harm the Wyandottes' normal lives. So, here are the colors/names:

Cloud Blue, True Blue, Spring Green, Goldenrod/Llena, Pink/Chatta, Umber, Red, Yellow, Lilac (slightly ill right now) and Orange.

This weekend, Marc Antony has been let loose from his rooster-pen, and has been allowed to fertilize some eggs. Previously, Rumpless was already loose and had his time with a New Hampshire Red, Moha. Sooo - Here are the eggs going into the incubator:

Cloud Blue, Llena, Chatta, Yellow x 2, Red x 2, Raven x2, Moha x 4, and Tufted.

It is only guaranteed that Llena, Chatta, Yellow, Red, Raven, and Moha's eggs have been fertilized. I'll put this off on a last note - This is not how I wanted it, I will admit. I would have loved to get all three White Crested Black Polish eggs, twice, making six different polish cross babies with possible colored eggs - But no. Marc Antony is too lame of a rooster to think of mating with Crested Polish chickens.

RIP, Rumpless

It has been a looong time since I have updated this. Well, to tell all the recent news in a small paragraph - It snowed, Mila went through a short moment of faux-moulting, all the Wyandottes and New Hampshire Reds are now laying, we get a dozen eggs a day, and . . . Rumpless, the New Hampshire Red Rooster, is dead. He died at 8 AM on Jan 21st, 2010. He came down with a terrible sickness that left him extremely lethargic, in which he could not use his legs much. Help came along too late, and he eventually gave up after 24 hours of symptoms. One of the last two NHRs, "Moha," stayed by his side and even tried helping him up just before his death. I have never known a chicken to have such emotions - Even if I moved Rumpless, she would follow me to his new place. He was the perfect rooster, too. He wouldn't boss the hens, he didn't even mature and crow or even mate with others until two days before he got ill, and he only mated with "Moha." With him being such a good rooster, I still to this day collect Moha's fertile eggs to carry on his perfect genes. It is such a shame that this is my last photo of him - He really did grow up to be such a handsome rooster in such short, late time! It was actually only during his last week of life that he looked like a true rooster. And his crow.. Aaah so cute, he only howled!

My other rooster, however, ( Marc Antony, the Easter Egger ) has been kept away from the girls for weeks on end and was finally let loose today to do as he pleases with his harem, so we can hatch some babies. The good thing is that since he was locked up, he's learned to be a gentleman. He now only mates a hen if she submits after his showing off, and he doesn't chase them halfway around the yard as he used to.

I don't have any new photos, as I cannot find my charger for the batteries to my camera right now, but tomorrow - Photos galore! I'll show the progress of my flock, because my have they grown! The "gang" no longer is "gang-like," the "kids" have grown up, and now almost everyone lays eggs. Tufted, my bearded babe, still lays the largest eggs I have ever known!