Well, I finally did it. I am now the proud owner of 15 baby peeps. Five
Black Australorp and ten
Buff Orpington pullets.
My son likes them, my dogs wonder if they would be better served on toast or with au jus. My husband is just rolling his eyes at my most recent hair brained scheme...
The dogs slather over the stock tank with the funny noises coming out of it, my Pointer is correct in his assumption that there are
birds in there, but doesn't seem to understand that I do not need them pointed out to me.
The Pug has taken a deep interest in them, not so much as a potential snack as a genuine affinity for their cuteness.
The Lab thought the stock tank was for swimming in, not raising day-old peeps. She is decidedly unimpressed. Although she thinks they look like they could be much fun.
My son has already started naming them. Omelet is the name of the biggest Buff, and Gloria is the name of the smallest Australorp. She is easily identifiable by the quantity of white on her little flight feathers and around her eyes.
The Buffs are gregarious birds, the Australorps are rather shy and reserved, although they are warming up to the physical handling they recieve daily.
For such little things, they sure do eat a lot. And poop a lot. Fellow blogger
Heather Houlihan alerted me to the consequences of
paste and how to remedy it's appearance, so I was cleaning peep poos instead of supervising dog poo for their first few days here.
All are well now, eating, drinking and pooping merrily.
They will be living in their new digs as soon as construction is complete. More pictures to follow.
Eventually, they will be joined by about 25 Cornish rocks for the freezer.
Get your broilers from JM. Cripes, you could drive there and pick 'em up if you wanted.
ReplyDeleteI lost out on the local supplier of decent meat birds here, so I'll have to!
ReplyDeleteThey will have to wait however, till later in the season. It's all about the layers this time. I didn't realize what a market I'd already developed for eggs from pastured hens. Tis why I got so many, alongside the fact that they are great training tools for dogs and just so damn cute!
Pug-n-chikin pics coming soon. Lab-n-chikin pic should be up today.
Pointer-n-chikin pics are, let's face it, never gonna happen...