WARNING! This is not a professional website! I am NOT an expert. Do NOT believe everything on this site.

Last Updated: 5/25/08

Pondet
Pondet's Family and Loss
An End for One and a Beginning for Four
Clash of the Titans
Pondet Broods Again

I have not yet read over this page since I moved it to this directory so it may contain errors that I hope to correct soon.

Even though we had enough chickens, my mother wanted another hen. She picked up a really pretty 4-month-old Delaware pullet on 8/14/04. My mother named her Pondet (pronounced Pond-ay) since we had a Poulet (pronounced Pool-ay) since we have a pond and a pool. I thought that was lame. Anyway, she is a really nice chicken. The Delaware breed is pretty rare. Here is a link on Delaware chickens with lots of photos. Once released, Spicey and Clarice attacked her so she took to sitting on the window sill most of the time. Hopefully, she will integrate into the flock soon. Update: 10/14/04 and Pondet is mostly integrated. Pondet laid her first egg, a big brown one, on 12/7/04 at an estimated age of 7.5 months old.

We had never had a broody hen before until on 6/18/05, Pondet all of a sudden decided to sit on eggs. I had just removed four eggs the day before but she had two more to sit on (all hers). I was told by an "expert" to kick her off the eggs and mark them. She would not let me do that (I was afraid of cracking the eggs) but on 6/20/05, Poulet was sitting on them with Pondet next to her so I pushed Poulet off, and she started squalking her brains out. I expected to find the two Pondet eggs and one or two from Poulet but there were four brown ones (each of the three hens lays a different color). I was so surprised, I did not even mark them. The first eggs are due to hatch on 7/9/05. We will see what happens. I am worried that the rooster or other hens might hurt the babies, or we will end up with more roosters. Due to that and lack of space, I could not artificially incubate eggs but my mother said it would be "fun" to let Pondet hatch a few. Unlike incubated chicks though, we will not be able to directly interact with them. Time will tell.

A week later, I pencil marked the three remaining eggs (one vanished, most likely cracked by accident and then eaten). On 7/8/05, I saw a little chick under Pondet's rear! The baby is mostly yellow with some brown stripes. We are waiting to see if the other two eggs hatch. Then, I have to worry about whether or not the chicks can get out of the nest, whether they will eat and drink, and whether or not the other chickens will hurt them. The "expert" said that Pondet will protect them from the rooster and other hens.

The expert is totally wrong. The next morning, 7/9/05, as soon as Spicey came off the roost, she went into the nest box, jumped on top of Pondet and bite viciously at her head and trying to bite at the now two cheeping babies next to and under her. I locked Sugar and Spice into the 6'x6' house. A few hours later, my father and I attached 1" chicken wire fencing (3 levels of 2' high for 6' of height) at the half way point of the outdoor run, effectively separating Pondet and the two chicks from Sugar, Spice, and Poulet (who did not show any aggression towards Pondet or the chicks but would probably be happier with the adults). Pondet stood up long enough for my mother to see that the third egg/chick was simply not there. When it was destroyed, I do not know as it was there a week before. There was no sign of egg shell in the nest at all. I guess Pondet ate them. Wild birds probably do this to ward off predators (smell of blood), flies, etc. and also to get back some calcium. The chicks cannot seem to get out of the nest box so I made them ramps but they still will not come out. Pondet got out once and called to them to no avail. I tossed in mealworms and chick feed which Pondet and the two chicks ate. I am worried they will get dehydrated so I may have to lift them out tomorrow if they do not go on their own. Once out, they have to find the chick waterer and realize how to drink from it too! Their remaining yolk (for hydration) will run out soon. They seem very healthy. Both are yellow with some brown stripes, one having more striped than the other. I took photos that you can see on the chicken photo page.

We have given the chicks the tentative names of Sprout and Speckles. Sprout is mostly yellow with a brown head stripe. Speckles is yellow with a bunch of brown and grayish stripes on her back. My instincts say Sprout is male, and Speckles is female. In 6 months, we will see how good I was at guessing! As of 7/10/05, I have not seen the chicks drink anything. They are out of the nest box. I had to lift one out (Pondet bit me). The chicks are eating mealworms and chick feed as well as bugs that Pondet scratches up.

Update 7/15/05: Sprout and Speckles are doing great! I just wish that when I put in special foods for the chicks twice a day that Pondet wouldn't flip the little dish and throw it all over! The chicks now have some real feathers at the ends of their wings. Sprout's are white, and Speckle's are brown.

When things seem perfect, that is when bad things happen. The morning of 7/27/05 around 6:10 am as I got dressed, I heard chicken noises. Opening my window, I could tell it was Pondet giving her "come here chickies" call with great insistence. I knew something was wrong and went right out. Sprouty was gone. There was no sign of anything. She was simply erased from existence. I have to assume that the black rat snake came in and got her even though she was getting big. Two of the four eggs that Pondet sat on also vanished without a trace. It was probably the same snake. It would be quite ironic if the culprit was the 5' black snake I tried to save a few weeks before. He/she was tangled in some mesh bird/plant netting. I cut him/her free but the net was still attached and strangulating the snake in half a dozen locations. If he/she survived and then ate Sprouty, that shows that no good deed goes unpunished. When looking for Sprouty (I thought maybe she had gotten out), there were a few birds (a wood thrush I saw) giving snake calls. I never saw the snake but it makes the most sense. Poor Pondet and Speckles continued to act scared, anxious, and kept calling for Sprouty. But, she is never coming back. I plan to move them to the hen house and put the adults out in the open. Hopefully, then when the snake comes back, all he will find is Sugar's menacing stare.

As of 8/17/05, Specky is doing very well. The three chickens out in the open area are not very happy but seem okay except for Spicey. She has developed a bumble foot infection. While the swelling is not that bad, I think it has gone up into the bone. I could bring her in for surgery but this would mean quarantine, medication, being away from the others which would stress her, and an almost guarantee that the infection would return anyway (as with Salty).

Spicey had been ill for a while with her feet. It was getting harder for her to walk. Sugar continued to jump her, further injuring her. In late August, she started staying in the next box, only coming out to eat. The morning of 9/2/05, she did not come out. Her eyes were shut. When I got home from work, she was gone. I feel guilty that we did not do more for her.

On 9/3/05, I removed the wood board keeping the chickens apart. They all joined together. Speckles is still pretty small for two months old but very fast. His daddy seems to be behaving himself although he, of course, had to have his way with Pondet as soon as they reunited. Sugar is offering the baby as well as the girls food to eat. I found Speckles on the high roost on 9/4/05 in the morning so he is now pretty much doing all that the adults can. He still cheeps like a baby though. He is so cute! If things continue well, next weekend, I will remove the rest of the barrier. I am so happy they are all getting along but which Spicey had lived to be a part of it. She was the only one though to show aggression towards Speckles, even biting him through the chicken wire a few days before she died. He squawked and ran, like such a baby which he is! So there are pluses and minuses.

The morning of 12/23/05, I heard Speckles learning to crow. He made a "woooooo-wo" noise. It is not very good but he is just learn. His father crows as a rooster should, and he will learn from him. Father and son seem to get along okay now after some initial tifts when he was in between chick and adult size. Speckles is now almost as big as Sugar. The girls, Poulet and Pondet, stay together and do not like either rooster much. Pondet especially seems to dislike her son which is sad as she was really close to him when he was little. Speckles is full grown in less than six months. It is hard to imagine maturing that fast! He still lets me pet him but no longer seems to like it. He just wants to eat his daily mealworm treat fast. I know the day will come when he will want to attack me as all my roosters have but I hope it is a long way off. Sugar seems to be a little less aggressive towards me, perhaps something having to do with having another rooster to deal with.

By 12/31/05, Speckles crows pretty well but not as loud as his father. I also saw him rape his mother. Incest has no meaning to a chicken. Speckles is fully mature and yet so young.

On 1/27/06, I finally was in his presence when Speckles was crowing. It is always strange to see a rooster crow close up. He did not thrust his head up as strangely as his father and was not as loud either.

On 8/7/06, my mother called me at work to say they had rescued Sugar. He was hanging from the wire in the run by his spur! His spurs are way too long. I tried cutting them but none of my cutters will go through them. I actually got the cutters around the spurs when he was roosting without much trouble, just could not even knick them. Sugar was probably fighting with his son when he got stuck. He would have hung upside down all day if my parents had not been taking my niece for a walk.

Sugar seems a little weak, may be getting old. The other chickens are fine. Poulet has not laid an egg since 2005 some time. Pondet lays one each day (fertilized by her son!). Speckles is still sweet but he may become a mean rooster after his father is gone. The foxes have been hanging around and doing well but have not gotten back into the pen. I close the chickens into the house at night even though the foxes should not be able to get into the run with the wire along the ground. Better extra safe than sorry.

On 12/16/06, when I brought out mealworms for the chickens, as I do every Saturday, Sugar was missing. He was always there because he was in charge. I found him hiding in the nest box. He moved a little so that I could see that he had broken off his dewclaw. The other one had broken off the year before. The remaining claw was all bloody. He looked scared and in pain. I took a photo of the piece of curled dewclaw (over 3" long if it could be straightened!) that came off later that night: Dewclaw with ruler. Later, when it was time to close them up for the night, Sugar was on the outside roost. I brought my Y- shaped stick in and forced him off there. While doing this, Speckles came off the roost. When Sugar flew down, Speckles attacked him. Sugar coward behind me. This was the first time since he was a baby that he could have attacked me but did not take the opportunity. It seems Speckles had a show down with his father and won. I could not get Sugar to go into the house at all so I closed the door with him on the outside roost. That way, at least the roosters could not harm each other until I came out in the morning. If a fox somehow got in, at least he would only get Sugar. I always close them in because of the foxes except when Speckles was a baby (and nobody but the snake got in then). Sugar seems run down. I hope Speckles leaves him alone, and that he does not turn nasty now that he is apparently dominant. Poulet and Pondet just stay on the inside roost almost all the time. If Pondet gets down, Speckles jumps her. Everyone ignores Poulet. Speckles is nice to me but sure is nasty to both his parents!

I plan to build a cage within the chicken house for Sugar on 12/23/06. I will replace the plastic covered windows with plexiglass to let in more light and so on because Sugar will spend his life inside the house from now on. He is going to get rained on for a few days before I can get to it since when I come home from work, it is too dark to build the new enclosed area.

Of course, it rained the day before I could get Sugar's new cage made. I hoisted one of my plastic kiddie pools up on top of the chicken run so it serves as an umbrella for him until I can get it built tomorrow. The new room was built on 12/23/06. You can read more about it on my bird shelter page where I talk about their cage.

On 1/24/07, I came home to find that Speckles was in Sugar's cage, and Sugar was out on the outside roost! The girls had both found their way into Sugar's cage before. The food bowls go under the fence so if they move the bowls, they can squish under the fence there. This time, I guess Speckles went into Sugar's cage, and then Sugar managed to get away from him but Speckles got trapped. I had to cut the door open (the cable ties have to be cut), get Speckles out, and go grab Sugar with a towel, stuff him back into the cage, and put new cable ties on. I hope they do not make this a habit!

I was amazed to find a white egg in the nest box on 3/26/07. Poulet laid her first egg in what, two years? The roosters had somehow switched places again which they are doing often. I let them stay that way for a few days so Sugar could run around. It is a pain to try to get them to switch because Sugar wants to kill me, and Speckles wants to kill Sugar.

Here is a photo of Pondet (left) and Poulet's (right) eggs on 3/27/07.

On 4/27/07, Pondet, decided to go broody. She is sitting on just a single egg since I collect the eggs daily to prevent her going broody (didn't work obviously). She last hatched two chicks in 2005. The survivor, Speckles, is the father of her baby so Pondet is trying to hatch her baby which is simultaneously her grandbaby. The baby is due to hatch on 5/18/07 so I will let you know what happens. Here is a photo of her brooding on 4/29/07: Pondet brooding her one egg.

On 5/17/07, I cheeped near Pondet who was acting like something was happening. I thought I heard a cheep back. I thought Chickie was piping. It was not until I got home on 5/18/07 that I first saw Chickie. I took photos of course which you can see here. Chickie is mostly yellow so she will mostly be white as an adult like most Delaware's. Chickie is 75% Delaware and 25% Araucana. The next morning, Pondet wanted Chickie to jump out of the nest box but she did not know how even though I had put some ramps in. I finally late in the morning picked up Chickie and put her on the ground barely avoiding Pondet's wrath. Chickie is very reserved, small, and not at all boisterous. I am hoping that means Chickie is female. Pondet tried to beat up some bread, grapes, and mealworms into smaller pieces for Chickie but as of 5/19/07, I have not seen Chickie actually eat anything. I put up a barrier of chicken wire to keep the other chickens away from Pondet and Chickie. It is not a great barrier but it should suffice for the month or so before Chickie is probably going to be safe. I am so worried that a snake will get Chickie like it did Sprouty two years ago. Chickie is darling and does not have any obvious problems despite the inbreeding. My father went out and got some chick starter (minus the antibiotics). Chickie's first night after leaving the nest was spend under Pondet in the open, in mild rain showers! I set up a plastic storage tub on its side with fresh hay so they could nest in there since Chickie cannot or will not climb the ramp to the nest box in which he/she hatched. They so far have not used the ground level nest either. I am worried about exposure. Pondet will not let me move Chickie. She is very protective.

Update 5/28/07. So far, so good! Chickie now has her first real feathers on the wing tips which are white with a little gray like Pondet. I made three videos of Chickie and Pondet which you can see on the bird videos page.

Update 6/17/07: Chickie is now a month old and healthy. I was afraid Chickie showed signs of being male. Chickie has a lot of dark color unlike Pondet and is very lanky (long legs and neck). I hope I am wrong, and Chickie is female. Speckles flew into their area once as did Poulet. No harm came of it aside from Speckles having his way with his mother. I have not put them together all the time because I am worried that Chickie might get under the fence where Sugar is and get stuck or hurt. Chickie has a lot of feathers now and can flap fly a few feet.

When I went to check on the chickens the night of 6/24/07, Pondet and Chickie were up on the outside roost! It is six feet in the air! The nest box is about 2.5 feet off the ground and nearby so they hopped up onto there first and then flew to the roost. I had not even seen Chickie ever on the nest box or fly more than a few feet horizontal to the ground so this was a surprise. I said, "How did you get up there Chickie?" She cocked her head as if to ask, "Where are the mealworms?" I have been letting Speckles in with his mother and sibling/offspring for short periods of time when I am filling up their bowls. Speckles chases his screaming mother until he can rape her. Chickie at the same time goes to the other side and runs in circles screaming too so it is too stressful for her still. I was going to wait a few weeks to combine the two "flocks" (if you can call two chickens a flock) even though Pondet and Chickie are now roosting in the open and got soaked in a thunderstorm their first night there.

On 6/29/07, I found Pondet and Chickie on the outside roost again. Again, there were thunderstorms which they both weathered just fine. I decided to start the flock integration on 6/30/07. I removed the door between the two runs. Speckles co-mingled with his mother and daughter/sister. They seemed to get along okay. Sugar is in his caged-in area, and the girls have not gone under there yet (which I worry about). Poulet will not come down off the roost. Her nails are overgrown so I cut them. She made a lot of noise and upset the other chickens. When I put her down, she ate a lot of food like she was starving which she must be because I never see her on the ground! She went right back up to the roost inside the house. She needs light and exercise! Of course, so does Sugar but I do not have the ability to build something better for him. Later in the day, Pondet and Chickie took a dust bath in the house. Pondet kicked dirt all over her daughter. Did I say daughter? Well, it seems that Chickie now has some decididly female traits. She is small, female-shaped, small comb, and the tail feathers have stopped starting to stick out. So, my mother now swears she is female. I am thinking that maybe she is! I will add more updates later.

When I went to check on the chickens on the night of 7/1/07, Poulet, Speckles, and Pondet were all up in the roost in the house. Sugar was in his area. Chickie was on the ground crying (the equivalent for chickens anyway). So, I put her up next to her mamma. I watched for a few minutes. Poulet starting pecking ferociously at Pondet and Chickie. Speckles tried to protect his mother/lover and daughter/sister but Poulet was persistent. Chickie flew down. Eventually, Pondet flew to the other side of the house. Finally, she and Speckles flew down. When I checked a few hours later, Pondet and Chickie were roosting on the outside roost. If this keeps up, I may have to quarantine Poulet in with Sugar so she can stop being so mean to the other girls. Poulet spends almost her entire life up on that roost and really needs to get down.

The night of 7/2/07, I put Poulet in with Sugar. I put Chickie on the roost. This time, Speckles, Pondet, and Chickie were able to roost inside in peace. In the morning, Poulet escaped when I took the bowls out by going under the fence. I will see what happens tonight.

Luckily, that night Poulet slept at the other end of the beam roost. They seem to get along okay now. The problem by 7/5/07 is that Pondet does not want to come off the roost during the day because of Speckles (who wants to mount her). So, Speckles is now baby sitting Chickie! Speckles is giving food to Chickie and spending time with her while Poulet and Pondet hide up inside the house! Chickie is so sweet and cute beyond words.

Chickie had her final integration test. I found her in with Sugar on 7/5/07. He did not harm her. I coaxed her oat with mealworms. Later that night, she was in there again and would not come out so I went to get mealworms. When I got back, she was in the window sill. The next morning, when I came back with their bowls, she was in with Sugar again. She came out to eat. Poulet and Pondet are still cowering up on the roost because of the roosters while baby Chickie is spending time with two huge roosters.

On 7/6/07, at night, when I checked on them, Chickie was roosting below, alone so I put her next to her mother, Pondet. Pondet immediately pecked at Chickie a lot, and Chickie cried. Pondet would not stop so I moved Chickie next to Speckles who protected her. I guess Pondet thinks that tiny little Chickie is all grown up but she is still so small! It is sad when the mother hen turns on the babies; it usually does not happen so soon (7 weeks).

The next day, 7/7/07, Pondet and Poulet came off the roost after a few hours. Pondet attacked Chickie by standing on her and pecking viciously. Chickie hid in the nest box. I took photos on the photo page of Chickie in there. Later, she went in with Sugar who is nice to her. He hands her foods like mealworms that I put in. She is so small and can easily go under the fence when she wants. I think she prefers being with her grandfather instead of her now nasty mother.

Update 8/18/07: Sometime about a week ago, Chickie lost her "cheep." She know makes noises closer to those her mother makes. She seems very small for her age. Her mother still attacks her if they are near to each other so Chickie usually hides in the separation cage with her grandfather Sugar. Pretty soon, she will be old enough for more incest in the chicken house. I wish the boys would just leave the hens alone!

By 9/20/07, nothing has really changed. Chickie is a little bigger but she is still the pariah. She goes under the fence to join Sugar or up on the new high roost to get away from her mother who attacks her whenever she can. Unlike her mother's side of the family where hens have big combs, she got her grandfather's side of the family's trait of small combs. She has almost no comb like her great-aunt Spicey (who died a while back).

On 2/16/08, Chickie laid her first egg. It was green like her great aunt Spice's egg but a little bit larger. My mother ate it and said it was the best egg ever. Things in the chicken house remain the same. Sugar is in his enclosure. Pondet and Poulet mostly stay up on the roost. Chickie and Speckles (her father, half-brother, and lover; talk about inbreeding!) walk around the main areas which the other girls are missing out on (of their own volition).

On 5/24/08, Pondet went broody. My mother flipped out about how we cannot have more chickens (which I knew, like it was my fault she wanted to be a mother again!). So, using a board, I stole her eggs. She squalked (how in the world do you spell that?) and puffed up. I picked her up having a fit and put her to bed. She had gone broody on one of her eggs (fathered by her son) and one of Poulet's eggs (the only hen not related to the roosters by blood). I feel like I destroyed her life (certainly those of her babies).