edit, 8/16: zinnie died today. i thought she was fine. the other chickens didn't try to attack her, they just squawked a lot at first, and later calmed down, but they did chase her away if she got in their way. last night when i checked on them, all four were cuddled up together. this morning the others were leaving her alone. i put up a perch that only zinnie could get to, just in case the others got aggressive and she needed to escape. i don't know what happened, but when i came home from work she was dead on the floor of the coop. i feel awful.
obviously i needed another chicken. OBVIOUSLY. i'm now outnumbered by furry and feathered friends at a ratio of 6:1.
the new addition is a 10-week-old silver laced wyandotte. she was free on craigslist--her sister was eaten by a fox, and the owners didn't want to keep just one lonely chicken. plus the fox might come back, and they didn't feel ready to have chickens in the first place--they didn't have a coop built yet, so the babies were sleeping in mailboxes.
silver laced wyandotte is the breed i wanted most of all this spring, but they were totally sold out.
this is what she'll look like. she'll fit with the white/black/gray theme of my little flock beautifully. she'll produce brown or tan eggs, approximately 200-240 a year.
the ladies are not sure what to make of her at all. it's going to take some getting used to. if i need to keep her in isolation for a while i can do that, but i don't want to...
her old owners called her "wild rose," because she liked to hide under a wild rosebush in their backyard. i'm changing her name to zinfandel (because she's a "WINE-dot"), and zinnie for short, to fit with the others. now there's minerva, wynonna, printemps and zinfandel--minnie, wynnie, prinnie and zinnie.
today is the first day all three of the older girls laid an egg! turns out prinnie is a white egg layer. that's ok. minnie is still laying every day (13 total now), wynnie has laid three, and prinnie has done one and a half (her first one was an "oops egg," with no shell).
Well congrats! Our Jelly Bean is a silver lace also and a good hen. I'm sure you'll enjoy Zinnie!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE LOVE LOVE silver laced wyandottes! I was thinking of getting one (or maybe the silver sebright) next year. I'm debating over what exactly to do, because I want an assortment of breeds. My golden comet and black stars are sweet, and good layers, but I want some girls that are a little more exotic.
ReplyDeleteSo I have to decide whether I'm going to get rid of some of my girls that are already laying next year to keep the number at around 10, or if I'm just going to expand operations to 16 chickens. ;)
I love Zinfandel's name too - how perfect! :):)
We're at a 13:2 ratio of furry and feathered creatures, so I'm right there with you.
So sorry to hear about Zinnie! She looked like she was a beautiful bird. It sounds like you are taking very good care of your flock though, so I hope you're not being too hard on yourself.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about Zinnie. :(
ReplyDeleteMaybe she was sick when you got her, or she could have been stressed over the loss of her sister and the fox attack... there's no way of knowing.
I'm sure that whatever happened, there wasn't much that you could have done to prevent it.
*hugs*
thanks. i'm doing ok now. it was pretty awful, i definitely feel like i should've been more careful--i should have worked from home so i could keep an eye on her, at least on her first day.
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry to hear about Zinnie. Don't be too hard on yourself, I echo what others have commented. It seems like the rest of your chicks are healthy and I'm sure they'll do great!
ReplyDelete