NaBloPoMo - Day 19 - Another Day, Another Peacock

From this:

To this:

This is Petey... he is a peacock...

He is the one egg that was laid this year out of about a dozen that actually hatched.

They talk about how hard it is to raise peacocks, but he made it...

He's now definitely a young male peacock...

For a while there, we thought Petey might be a girl,

but within the last couple of weeks, his neck feathers brightened up

and he started tail flapping which will help get those muscles ready

when he is full grown and has his train...

I'm hoping I'll get to see it in three years when he fully matures...

kinda like I waited for Prince's train to come in...

If you remember, I wrote about back in April.

Unfortunately, about 3 weeks ago, he didn't show up in the barn

and a couple of days later I found a clump of white feathers.

Another loss to the bobcat...

I was to the point of crying over this loss...

To raise a pet patiently waiting for that final display 

and then losing it so suddenly was too much to handle.

Not to mention that my mother hand-raised him

it really hit me hard.

Now we're doing everything we can to protect Petey...

But, if there's one thing I've learned being on this property,

you can do everything right and all it takes is a single

moment for everything to suddenly go wrong...

Here's to hoping...

TYOFWM - Life Begins Anew

Momma was our chick whisperer...

Whenever we'd get a hatching or orphaned chicks,

it was Momma's job to raise them...

She'd fuss over them,

talk to them,

feed and clean them...

They'd stay in her 80+ degree room until they were

big enough to join the others in the barn.

That was always a sad day for Momma.

But soon there would be another orphan chick to raise...

Like Baby...

He was the last chick Momma raised,

and I really think he was her most favorite of all.

He followed her everywhere.

He'd climb on her walker and get pushed around

the kitchen and her room.

He was one very spoiled little rooster,

but alas, even he eventually had to move out

to the barn.

But Momma would stand at her window looking for him.

She'd ask how he was doing.

He is so tame you can walk up to him at any time and pick him up.

I'd bring him in the house for her to fuss over

before taking him back out with the other chickens.

Now there's a new baby in the house...

a little peachick we're calling "Petie..."

And, there's no Momma here to raise it...

So DH and I are having to do the mothering...

It seems to like to find warm spots...

I think of Momma and know she would have enjoyed

seeing this little one grow up.

She loved to see young animals.

That's why she enjoyed the farm so much,

especially the new chicks.

This winter she got to at least see the first lamb born

on Boxing Day and pet him.

During her last weekend at home,

all 8 of the spring lambs bounded and played

just outside her window.

And her little Baby, who's just learning to crow,

called out in his fledgling rooster voice.

I wonder sometimes if Baby misses her somehow...

I'm sure he does...

She was his Momma, too...

P is for Patience

This is my white peacock Prince.

He'll turn two years old this year.

 I got him as a 1 week old chick

along with three other peachicks.

He was the only one who made it.

I kept hoping for a white male.

It was a dream bird for me.

So when he made it to a year old and started showing

signs of being a male, I was so happy.

That first year he didn't have much of a display.

This year, though, he's got a lot of Y-feathers.

Next year, he'll finally have his first rows of eye feathers;

you know the ones... the ones peacocks are famous for.

Three years waiting for his display to finally be complete.

Three years of keeping him well fed and safe from predators.

Three years of hoping he doesn't get ill or decide to wander away.

I'll let you know if we make it to next year...