Fun With Baby Chicks

So we let the chicks run roughshod over the living room the other day...

And my husband made the mistake of falling asleep on the couch.  You know you are used to house chickens when it just fails to faze you any more.

Yoya deciding what she wants to watch while husband becomes a baby chick playground.

'Whatcha doin', dad? Ya trying ta sleep?'

That man can sleep through anything. Luckily they were kind and nobody pooped on him.

Later on they were back in their brooder box.

Yoya photobombs the kids.

And decides to come out!

...then changes her mind and jumps back in again.

Every time she jumped up there and down again it shook the entire brooder box, especially the edges where the chicks were roosting...making them madly grip with their feet and scaring the Hell outta everyone.

Which was *not* appreciated.

Later still, Weedcat came in for a brief visit to get him used to the chicks, and they to him. Since mama hens can be unpredictable at best around roosters, we put the cover on the brooder box while he was in...a wise choice since Yoya constantly gave him Death Threat Growls while he was in.

But Weeds was sweet and just sat down next to the box and quietly clucked to Yo and the chicks, calling and picking up & dropping little bits of hay and 'finding' food they'd kicked out to show what a great provider he was.

Good boy, Weeds!

Hatch #2 Is On!

I candled the eggs in the incubator last night and found several with viable embryos, so we're 'Go' for our June 7th hatch! Hopefully we'll get some chicks with Weedcat, our splash Giant Cochin roo, as a daddy.

The June hatch should happen right about the time the current chicks are ready to go out into the flock, so the timing should be perfect!

Pancakes Over Reno?!

So last night while making dinner, I glanced out the kitchen window and saw this lenticular cloud formation in the distance, hovering over Reno:

A few minutes later the colors had deepened a bit:

...further cementing my theory that Reno is a gaping Hellmouth. The locals call this cloud formation that regularly forms over Reno when we're in for a storm the 'Reno Wave'.

Also, fired up the ReptiPro incubator today in preperation for setting another clutch of eggs tomorrow morning. If all goes well and there are embryos when I candle them on May 17th, hatch date SHOULD be June 7th. So far I've gathered almost 2 dozen from our large breed chickens (no bantams this time around), hopefully we'll get some big chicks from our flock this time!

Right now we've got 2 broody hens setting--Sonic, our golden laced Giant Cochin and Pompadour, one of our gray Giant Cochins. Both are mature enough to be moms. The little d'Uccles have dropped their broodyness and are slowly getting un-grumped.