Week 13
All the little baby demonfluffs have their eyes open, with the first tufts of mane visible. Still so stinking cute. I’ve moved them and Marnie over to the weanling pen in the playroom, which means I see Foxfire in with them every time I turn my back. She’s insisting that Marnie is her special friend, and nothing about the facts that Marnie is also female and spayed beside will shake her on that. They are special friends and have many babbehs to look after and take to the magic milk boxes. I’m contemplating the idea that any litters out of Foxfire might need to be artificially started. Wasn’t planning on even trying until she was at least 6 months old and I was certain she was as full grown as she was going to get.
Regardless, the babies are being well looked after. Glory and Rook occasionally stick their heads over the gate to survey the little ones, Rook with a little more interest than Glory. Neither of them seem to have more than casual interest in them at this stage, but still go utterly alert and bolt upright every time one of the babies squall. Not quite as instantly combat ready as a croc with a babies in distress noise played, but still displaying a similar level of protectiveness. When we start selling off weanlings, we’re either going to need to do it well out of earshot of the adults or make sure the babies aren’t distressed over it unless we want complications.
Protective instincts over all demonfluff younglings is still preferable to the possibility that the males had inherited the sort of reaction to unrelated babies that lions and tom cats tend to display. I could have instituted methods to keep them separate and train Glory and Rook to behave, but if I don’t have to all the better. Aurora also responds to any distress noises with immediate alertness and interest, but seems far more nervous about the babies’ presence the rest of the time. Could be a thing about existing litters when she’s expecting, I don’t know. I’m keeping an eye on the situation.
Glory still seems preoccupied with his new “special friends”, enough so that I put low gates in front of the playroom and the boys kennel and left the doors open. Low enough Rook and Glory can bounce in and out easily enough, high enough the fillies and Marnie can’t do the same. Foxfire can still climb it in an instant, but Aurora… She wasn’t quite as agile as the boys to begin with, and this pregnancy is slowing her down out of proportion with her weight gain. Depending on how much she keeps slowing down, she’s getting pulled out of footage fights this week or the next. Either way, she’s not up to vaulting the low gate without desperate circumstances right now.
Rook isn’t fussed by the gates for a moment, but the little brat routinely opens doors to get where he wants to be- usually where I am. He’s also convinced that a “special friend” is something you only have one of and it’s for life, so his new playmate is not his special friend, just a “not- pack- fluffy” who lets him have special hugs when he wants in order to keep her access to nice things. Close enough. As long as he’ll still breed the not- his- special-friends when I ask him to, his view on things is just as valid as Glory’s “I want all the special friends ever as my own harem” plans. (I have a theory on this, Bill. Largely involving the balance of which avian genus you used for each of them and their usual social behavior. Email me when you’re done reviewing that section of the footage.)
As I said, Marnie was moved with the itty-bitties, but Pepper is staying with her little grey alicorn, the rest of Absinthe’s litter, and a certain level of supervision over the nearly weanlings in the run next to hers. All of those are doing well. Absinthe’s litter are all developing well, manes coming in with decent colors so far. We have a black and goldenrod maned earth filly, a grey earth filly with a pink and silver streaked mane, a pale green pegasus filly with a dark teal mane, and the grey unicorn colt is developing a red and mustard streaked mane- not great, but not all of them can be winners. That alicorn of the litter is developing a silvery mane even lighter than her coat, which is going to up her starting price even farther.
Of the soon to be weanlings, all fourteen of them have pictures up on the website with the parent pictures section “temporarily under construction”. Kal agreed that was the easiest way to get around the fact that all their parents are ferals and we don’t know for sure who or what fathered which litter. New website, odd little bugs, some links not working, and I’m sure we’ll get it worked out pretty soon! Pretty facades and presentation. I haven’t really bothered naming any of them, I’ll let the new owners have that pleasure. The walnut alicorn is tentatively answering to Walnut, but that’s more or less accidental.
None of the itty bitties have names yet either, really. They have their batch number and letter code assigned, per Bill and Dave’s system, but they will get actual names if they’re staying as breeding stock as planned. Genny, Jake and Randy have all proposed names, but somehow things like Floofykins, Duchess of the Dawn, and Shitmonster 5 don’t appeal to me. I’ll figure something out by the time they get personalities, I guess. There’s the pretty pale pink alicorn boy, who has a very red mane growing in, matching some of the pinfeather primaries on his wings. His white alicorn sister has a mane even darker red, with the fringe on that kirin tail and her wing tips matching, and the cutest habit of blinking around with those big violet eyes. The golden unicorn colt and the pegasi filly are still the pudgiest of the entire lot- he’s getting this almost dawn pink mane and tail fringe (hence Jake’s suggestion of Duchess Dawn), her mane and tail are coming in pale sky blue.
The last is the biggest surprise of the litter. Pale yellow blonde, with a delicately pink mane coming in, and perfectly blue green eyes. Bill, were you going to tell me you’d snuck an alicorn Flutterbat into the batch? She’s adorable, and I’m glad we managed to save her.
For the other litter, the little black alicorn colt is growing a curly, cotton candy blue and pink mane and tail. The maroon alicorn colt is picking up a goth worthy black tips, mane and tail fringe, and the pale blue alicorn filly has hers in silver. The black unicorn filly with the Kirin tail is nearly as Hot Topic worthy with dark red mane and tail fringe, and the little midnight blue bat winged runt of the litter has a jet black mane. All of them are rolly little babies right now.
And with all of their babies moved over, I went ahead and let Hot topic and Bubblegum breed the no longer needed surrogates. Taffy was sulking a little, but Pepper has enough on her plate with the babies she’s nurse-maiding I don’t want her bred right now. Debating whether it would be worth it to let Taffy breed Birch in a week or so or if I should let her and Cloud stay special friends. She is one of my better mothers right now, and the litter they produced does have potential. Even the brownies are decent shades of brown enough that with the right manes and personality they might find homes. Maybe I’ll just revisit the decision when the manes grow in next week or so.
I’m starting to debate moving the studs with decent behavior into a shared run, since I have three to spare. Four if I shift foal punishment to go sit in a box in a wall cage instead of the extra run I was using. Might move decent mothers into one as well, since it allows more baby room and such.
Sunshine and Myra are now in wall cages until they’re big enough to need one of the medium brood mare ones. It’s fun to note that they were far more upset at losing access to their toys and Fluff-tv than they were at having their barely two week old foals taken away. Don’t think I have to worry about them earning a best-mummah slot back in the runs unless something drastic happens.
First Chapter- The Pack- because what we need is more fluffies bred to eat other fluffies. (1) by :Shadowfox
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