Good Night, Sleep Tight

   This is Sleepy. She is my double laced Barnevelder.

   As some of you might remember from an earlier post, Sleepy was not her original name. She was going to be Penny. Sleepy was just a nickname that stuck. 

   Something you don't know is that Sleepy might not have survived as a chick. When you first get your chicks, you are supposed to dip their beaks in water. They don't know what it is yet. If you don't do this, the chicks will not drink and can die of dehydration.

   For some reason, Sleepy did not get her introduction to water. She was not drinking. So, my sister and I had to do something. I took a teaspoon of water and had to get her beak into it.

She was not happy with us. She was afraid of the water and wouldn't touch it.

   Then finally, we got her beak to touch the water. She was shocked. She paused for a moment then drank as much as she could!

(The water in the cup is yellow because of a additive we bought that helps the chicks.)

   Now that Sleepy has grown up, she is absolutely gorgeous!

   Sleepy is shy. She is so shy. Sometimes, if she is thinking about sitting on my lap and I look at her, she will run away. I think she is on the bottom of the pecking order, so this can explain her nervousness. 

   However, when she gets over her shyness, she is actually a very sweet little bird!