Bringing it up to Speed

It's been a while since I found the chick standing all alone chirping her little heart out so I thought I would bring everything up to date.

For about a week the poor thing hollered itself hoarse if I wasn't right there with it. Several times I held it in my lap while watching TV. I was crocheting one night as the chick played with the yarn. (It's kind of weird being a mama chicken. It's something I never thought I'd do with my life. Best laid plans and all that rot.) As soon as I put it back in the cage it would start the mournful wailing I had come to loathe. Lucky for me another hen came off her nest with some babies so I nabbed one of them and put it with the chick in the house. They hit it off like gangbusters and became the best of friends. No more yelling at me 24-7. Happy dance.

Two weeks or so later, another hen came of her nest with a couple of chicks. The first hen to have chicks had already lost them to the local predators by the time the second one hatched hers. I put the second hen in a cage with her chicks and even with precautions rats were getting the chicks. I turned them all loose except for one who was a bit sickly. I wanted to give them a chance to run. I took the sick one and the two from the house and put them all in a small cage with very small holes. They have done well there. And better than anything, they are all girls!!!

In the meantime, the second hen, who I had always considered a bit of a dolt, did a wonderful job with her chicks. She totally changed my opinion of her. Within three days she had her tiny chicks flying up to one of the laying boxes and they spent their nights high off the ground. I was so proud of her. Every evening I would check on them. Mama would be holed up in that nesting box with little chicks sticking their heads out. It was so damn cute I wish I had gotten a picture. When the chicks were about 1/3 adult size, I went out one morning to find every single one of them gone. Mama chicken was missing a shitload of feathers where something had attacked her. Bless her heart. Just goes to show that no matter how hard you try around here, this place will stomp the shit out of you.

A week ago I started letting the chicks in the cage out during the day and putting them up at night. They have been good about going up until last night. I guess they've decided they are all grown up and are literally flying the coop. All three flew up to a high point in the feed shed and I couldn't reach them without climbing a ladder. I bid them all good night and hoped it wasn't goodbye. I am pleased to announce that all three chicks were running around the yard this morning. We'll see how long that lasts. I am wishing them all the best.