#chickbang

[daesungindistress]

Oh hey, on the topic of new beginnings... for anyone here who remembers Chickbang, the baby chicks I brought home in 2020 and named after BIGBANG, 2 years later I still have them and they're doing well! And if all goes reasonably well, a couple of them will hopefully be hatching some cute little fluffballs of their own very soon 🐣

Dae and Gwisun are "broody," which in chicken talk means they've decided they want to be mamas. The instinct to sit on and incubate eggs until they hatch has kicked in for the spring, and unlike last year I'm going to let them do their thing. It takes approximately 3 weeks. Stella (one of my 2021 chickens, technically not part of Chickbang) and Dae are halfway there, Gwisun about one third.

What makes this extra special is Dae, who was the first, went broody on April 4 my timezone, April 5 in Korea. No explanation needed for the significance of that day and its ties to new beginnings.

Below: Stella and Dae, Gwisun

Below: Dae and Stella (they switched places) and Gwisun as seen on my coop cams that I'm using to spy check on them throughout the day 👀

Edit: silly me, should've included the rooster. This is Monet, a splash Silverudd Blue / Isbar named after French impressionist painter Claude Monet. I picked him up from someone giving him away back in February when he was just coming of age and they couldn't have him crowing in the city. Because of his breed, he should pass on a gene that will color or tint his female offspring's eggs blue-green.

[daesungindistress]

Life is good 🎶

[daesungindistress]

I have good news! The eggs my broody hens have been sitting on were laid 3 weeks ago, on the day of BIGBANG's comeback... and are hatching now, coming into this world today, on Daesung's birthday 🐣🎉🎂

[daesungindistress]

Still Life 🥚

New Life 🐣

[daesungindistress]

❄️ SNOW DAY ❄️

Winter brought us some nice snowfall today! Nice for this area, I mean, which only sees snow once every few years or so, and what little we’re lucky enough to get melts away in a matter of hours. Anyway, you could say it’s Chickbang’s first snow 🥰 They weren’t keen on the stuff at first, but they did eventually venture out and get their feet wet.

Also, check this out: a previously undiscovered breed of frosty weather fowl! lol that’s right, I made a snow chicken, to absolutely no one’s surprise. Her comb and wattles are paper cut from junk mail, her beak is a (somewhat misshapen because I was in a hurry) leaf, and her eye is a juniper berry. It’s rough for sure, but that’s what happens when you don’t have waterproof gloves and your fabric gloves are soaked through leaving your fingers wet and freezing and in so much pain. Oh well. I shared it to my FB chicken group and it inspired a few members to sculpt their own, which really made my day. Sometimes it’s the little things in life.

[daesungindistress]

I just realized you got new chicks?! How are they doing?

Awww they're doing great, thanks for asking! They are 3 weeks old now and the Olive Eggers (Shirley, Uri, Viola) are growing like weeds! I sorta recall last year's Easter Eggers, BB and CL, having their growth spurts earlier than the other chicks, hybrid vigor maybe, but these three are lively little devils and they tower over the Lavender Orpington, Gracie... who at this time I strongly suspect is a Grayson ♂️

While it is too soon to be sure, his/her comb is on the large side for such a young chick, and cockerels, young males, develop their fleshy bits faster than the girls. I don't have any other single-combed chicks to compare him to right now, but I do have pics of last year's chicks (Chickbang) for reference and, of course, the great big library of the internet. Anyway, just like with GD last year, even if Gracie/Grayson is a boy I'm going to take it one day at a time and try to keep him. Only time will tell if that will work out or not. So far he's the friendliest of the bunch. But then, that is a characteristic of the Orpington breed.

Actually, if you had sent me this ask a day earlier you might have gotten a different answer. Just 24 hours ago they weren't all doing "great". I noticed yesterday evening that Gracie/Grayson was acting out of sorts and I spent the night observing him closely. I ended up administering medication for the treatment of coccidiosis, the intestinal disease that I believe was responsible for swiftly claiming the life of poor little MADE last spring. Thankfully, within about 12 hours Gracie/Grayson had regained much of his energy and was eating, drinking, and moving about the cage regularly again, almost keeping up with his crazy sisters who'd been running circles around him all day and night while he struggled to keep his eyes open. So I think we're good now! Last year's loss was a hard lesson in how quickly cocci kills... but at least I learned.

This pic is from last weekend so they're a bit more feathered now, but here's (left to right) Gracie/Grayson, Shirley, Viola, Uri.

Oh, and here's Dae stopping by in search of some lovin' the other day:

That's it for now!

[daesungindistress]

I love chickbang updates. How’s the one with the foot problem doing?

She's doing great! I flipped her over yesterday and took a pic of the (formerly) affected foot and here's what we've got:

Dec 1 -> Jan 4: all healed up! In the left pic, that scabby thing was the surface layer of the "plug" of infection that needed removing, which, once it was out, left a bit of a hole in the pad of her foot. One month later though, you'd never know!

Now to deal with the same problem developing on her other foot 😅 It's less advanced but there's definitely some inflammation and a tiny scab, so I just started with the salve today, meaning she's back to trotting around in that fancy fluorescent vetwrap, though this time on her right foot only.

The things I do for these birds...

[daesungindistress]

So chickbang is going to get bigger? How soon after they hatch will you be able to get them?

Yes, the Chickbang family will grow. But I’m discontinuing the Big Bang theme. And before anyone thinks it, no, this is not in response to recent events lol, I’ve had this planned for months. I’m going with a completely different naming convention this time. These lil’ fuzzies don’t even exist yet and already I have every one of their names picked out 🐥

The reason I’m having to wait so long is I’ve ordered some uncommon breeds that are available in limited quantity for only a few months of the year. All I can do is keep telling myself they’re worth the wait! Although, now that you mention it, I’m not sure if 3/31 is their hatch date or my pickup date. Either way, to answer your question, I should be able to pick them up within 2-3 days of hatching. It’s common practice to ship baby poultry through the US Postal Service because the chicks don’t require food or water for the first few days of their lives. Usually this is all fine and good, but there is of course the risk of delays, which, sadly, can and does end in chicks DOA, and that’s not a risk I’m willing to take, especially since I’m getting so few (just one of each breed). Somewhat conveniently, the hatchery is only a 2-hour drive away and happens to be near somewhere I travel for work periodically, so the plan is to pick up my peeping bundle box of joy in person and deliver them safely home myself, secure on the passenger seat of my car. Might even seat belt them in 🐤