In the afternoon, I went back out to check on Lydia, and found…. another chick!
I coaxed her off the nest for a little while, so she could eat and drink herself. She immediately started showing the little ones how to eat. She would pick up a bit of food and sort of tap it several times in her beak and then plop it down in front of them. In the chicken world, this is called 'tid bitting'. It's adorable.
This next picture is for The Little Red Hen:
Awwww….
This scene didn't last long though, because she wanted to get back on the remaining eggs. So I popped them back into the crate and everyone settled in.
I went for a long walk and visited some friends.
When I got back… ... remember when I told you about 'farm life' and its perils? Well, here they come.
Another chick had hatched. Only this time Lydia had pushed it away from her. The poor little mite had an injury which I don't really understand. All I know is that some of its internal parts were outside its body and sort of connected to part of the shell, and it was bleeding. Though it was alive and peeping and trying to move. I really don't want to talk about all the details, but after some 'care and comfort' the little bit died wrapped in a towel in my kitchen. It had a mortal wound that I could not repair.
Sigh. :-(
It's been an emotional 24 hours to be sure.
I removed the eggs that didn't hatch, and as soon as Lydia saw there were no more eggs in the nest, she immediately escorted her chicks out of the dog crate and began teaching them to eat and drink in ernest.
Here is where they are living for the time being. This structure is in the chicken run.
They spend the night here too. Safe inside the dog crate. You can't see it, but I have installed some bird netting along the bottom of those fence pieces, so the chicks can't get out.
It's going to be a lot of extra work and much checking on them in the next few weeks, but so far Miss Lydia is a stellar mother hen.
If you asked me if I would do this again, right now I would have to say no. I wasn't quite prepared for the emotional roller coaster that has happened. Those little creatures are SO vulnerable!
I think I'm too old for this much drama!
I coaxed her off the nest for a little while, so she could eat and drink herself. She immediately started showing the little ones how to eat. She would pick up a bit of food and sort of tap it several times in her beak and then plop it down in front of them. In the chicken world, this is called 'tid bitting'. It's adorable.
This next picture is for The Little Red Hen:
Awwww….
This scene didn't last long though, because she wanted to get back on the remaining eggs. So I popped them back into the crate and everyone settled in.
I went for a long walk and visited some friends.
When I got back… ... remember when I told you about 'farm life' and its perils? Well, here they come.
Another chick had hatched. Only this time Lydia had pushed it away from her. The poor little mite had an injury which I don't really understand. All I know is that some of its internal parts were outside its body and sort of connected to part of the shell, and it was bleeding. Though it was alive and peeping and trying to move. I really don't want to talk about all the details, but after some 'care and comfort' the little bit died wrapped in a towel in my kitchen. It had a mortal wound that I could not repair.
Sigh. :-(
It's been an emotional 24 hours to be sure.
I removed the eggs that didn't hatch, and as soon as Lydia saw there were no more eggs in the nest, she immediately escorted her chicks out of the dog crate and began teaching them to eat and drink in ernest.
Here is where they are living for the time being. This structure is in the chicken run.
They spend the night here too. Safe inside the dog crate. You can't see it, but I have installed some bird netting along the bottom of those fence pieces, so the chicks can't get out.
It's going to be a lot of extra work and much checking on them in the next few weeks, but so far Miss Lydia is a stellar mother hen.
If you asked me if I would do this again, right now I would have to say no. I wasn't quite prepared for the emotional roller coaster that has happened. Those little creatures are SO vulnerable!
I think I'm too old for this much drama!