Hello from Chicken Paradise Hawaii, with Natsu, who really hates being held. She’s sulking with her face stuck somewhere odd. It’s windy today.
More ducklings
Julietta has hatched ducklings again! Spring is here once more. Her daughter had been sitting on eggs too, but it didn’t work out and she gave up. It turns out Julietta was sitting at the same time, and her eggs hatched safely. The ducklings are three days old, poking around in the bushes and hunting for puddles of rainwater to drink. Ducks grow fast, so they’ll be big in no time.
A bully in the chick cage
Udon and friends have graduated from the isolation cage in the big birds’ room, so I moved the next group of chicks in. But one little black chick is being terribly mean to the others. Why?
Two of these chicks, the orange ones, are survivors from a hen who hatched a brood outside and then hatched again before I could catch her. The rest came from a hen who walked out of the bushes with eight chicks. One of those eight is the bully, and she looks just like her mother.
The usual fix is to add a slightly bigger bird to keep the peace, so I brought in two sturdy, chunky youngsters from another wild family. They’re terrified and don’t like people — and the bully went after them anyway! But a chick kept alone can get lonely and cold, so I’m still deciding what to do.
Around the farm, and a worm feast
Shiroppy, who grew up with Udon, was sickly as a chick and is now a fine rooster, and Curry is even more splendid, all glossy. Peanut Butter, a Red Star (an egg-laying breed), was always slender, but now at about four she’s finally getting plump. Cheese, who looked after the wild hens, went outside with them and has a few small scrapes from rooster squabbles. They’ll heal quickly.
Then we went bug hunting. I leave boards and cages lying around on purpose, because moving them uncovers bugs. Under the pool there were lots of earthworms! The ducks are fast, but Mint got her share. Parsley and Rosemary joined in. They look so alike, and they’re about the same age, with Parsley a little older. We even dug up a feeder lost long ago. Please stop burying things, everyone! Then the camera battery ran out.
Meet Udon
Udon is still a bit childish compared with the others. He’s very tame — which is nice, but you’re a rooster! Stand up straight! Instead he just gets smaller and smaller. He also tried to nibble my headphones. Not food, Udon!
Thanks for watching Chicken Paradise Hawaii. See you next time!