Saturday, November 12, 2011

Chick Update

After that first chick was killed, we put some cardboard around the dog kennel, thinking this would keep the other chicks in the kennel & safe from being stepped on.

(I don't actually know what happened to the chick that died, again he was born overnight and there could have been something wrong with him so mom rejected him or something).

Well... that didn't work. One got out of the pen yesterday and I found him chilled, but alright & chipping for his mom. Should have been my clue this wasn't going to be a good idea! Went in this morning, and two of the little guys our out without mom, one was almost un-responsive he was so cold!

Luckily we've got a heat lamp in the same corner of the coop for the turkey poults. The little guys were close enough they didn't freeze. Once I picked up the really cold chick I just held him under (but not too close too!) the light, and he perked up after a few minutes.

I removed the barrier and Mom came rushing out to scoop up her babies and stayed over-top of them to warm them up. We're going to let them stay loose in the coop now, and hope mom is going to be able to keep them all safe. I did have the goats follow me into the coop yesterday and little EE took on Diego pretty well!

Not a peep out of the EE#2's nest, mostly because I thought they were due yesterday, and I got my dates mixed up, they are due next week. She's lost a lot of weight though, maybe time to invest in an incubator... hopefully not.

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