RIP Rotisserie and one of Six-Pack

Came home to a closed coop. That's not right, I leave it open during the day. Counted 12 birds.

Checked messages. A neighbor called with the bad news: two birds were hit by a car (or cars). She herded the survivors into the coop; the carcasses were in the garage.

I'll spare the details of the state of the bodies, but I did get 1.5 lbs of meat off the Jumbo. Rotisserie was too bruised to salvage.

The only positive I see in this is that none of the females were hit.

It's a girl! ...we think

This is the inverted cloaca. If it were a boy, a small penis would be visible here.

In case you don't know, birds have only one exit, and they perform the "act" by what's called the "cloacal kiss". The female then stores the sperm for around a month in special repositories. Each day during a 30 minute window just after the egg is released and before the albumin starts forming, sperm are released from storage and meet the egg.

Kiki wants babies, duck growth

Kiki is outside tonight -- she is setting on her (and Kittywhee's) eggs. Gotta steal them from her -- it's not yet time.

Here's the duck's growth rate. It is said that Pekins are the fastest growing. I am not surprised.

Naming contest

This cutie needs a name:



Send your entry my way, prize TBD.

"Fatso" might be a good name, given how fast it grows. It has gone from about 40g at birth to 366g today; it is 12 days old. I don't yet know the gender; in another week or two it'll be at the best age for vent sexing.

I collected three eggs today... which means that either the youngest guinea is now laying, or the elder girls were holding back during the rain and let it all go today.

More birds on the way... more news Friday.

Girls are busy, new family member

Kiki and Kittywhee have been busy laying eggs. They located a nice secluded spot and there are now 7 eggs within. There were at least (as far as I can find) 4 others in various places -- those must be the decoys. The eggs are small, about half the size of an extra large chicken egg, and hard as a rock!

Six-Pack have not been producing; there is no mating behaviour, other than the occasional chase.

Born: Friday March 11, 2005. No name yet, not sexed yet. Looking for a name. Watch out, guineas. We have a cuddly competitor for attention, and it likes people too.

Political shakedown, wedding announcements

A lot has happened in the last few weeks.

First, YT, the king of the guineas, is no longer king! I found him last week inside the coop, not wanting to come out and staying at the top of the rafters. Not like him at all. Later I found him getting chased by Ptitsa. Very not like him. Looks like he dropped one or two ranks. Ptitsa is king, then Buckwheat, and then ... hard to tell. Maybe Zoe.

Second, last week the birds were let out all day, every day, *unsupervised*! They did smashingly. Everbody was back, nobody was left behind, when I came home and did a body count. Good birds!

Last... but not least... today marks the first day of adulthood for one of the girls! Speculation from Kerrie is that it is Kiki who dropped the first egg (she was also first out of the gates in the incubator!) Kerrie says Ptitsa was on watch and Kiki was in the bushes yesterday. This is classic nesting behaviour. Sure enough, tonight there was an egg. I'm so proud!

Thanks for the motorcycle gang visits, I saw the card. Drop by any time.