During my morning chores I found one of our chicks far away from her momma. She was freezing cold and very weak. But I figured a little warmth under her momma would do the trick. I gently scooped her up and put her back in the nest. Then with out much more thought I continued with my barn chores. But before heading back to the house, I went back to check on the lil' one. Again, she was away from her mother and weakly laying on the floor. I am not sure what the deal was but seems like this little gal had been shunned for some reason.
Here I was, skipping around here all day yesterday, feeling like I had it made. I really hate cleaning out the chicken brooder... So yeah I felt pretty darn good until this morning. I looked down at the sweet little chick with her dark little eyes barely peeping through her heavy lids, her yellow little fuzz dancing in the breeze... "Crap! I guess your coming with me", I sulked and off we went.
Once in the house I hooked up the heating pad and syringed a little apple cider vinegar and water mixture into her beak. After a little heat and an energy drink she seemed to recover nicely from her chilling morning.
I really was counting on Broody Hen doing all the hard work this time. So with that said once the chick started to feel better I put her back with her mother. Hopefully she will be able to stay with her...
She is a cutie :)
ReplyDeleteAt least you get to start with one a few days old as opposed to starting from new eggs. Hope she recovers well!
Cute though, and just think of that roast dinner to come - only joking (well half joking). Looks like you've got your hands full there Leigh, it's good to know that you're prepared to put the effort in.
ReplyDeleteBest regards,
John
Hope the little chick makes it. Be glad it's not a puppy. They require a bottle feeding about every 2 hours It's like have a baby in the house!
ReplyDeleteStephen,
ReplyDeleteVery true... because I hate turning eggs about as much as I hate cleaning out the brooder.
John,
Thanks John. And yes if this turns to be a he verses a she... the Rooster is sure to become a roaster. ;)
Karen
Awe, yes very glad! Dont get me wrong nothing is as cute as feeding a bottle baby pup but it is an awful lot of work. As we bottle raised two.
I remember their 2am feedings very clearly but the perk was they prepared me for 2 am feediing with my own children... usually when I fed my own babes they went right back to sleep... the pups on the other hand didnt appreciate being put back down in their cage... so it was lots of late nights and early mornings listening to puppy tears.
This (hard work) is another reason I am thinking of raising rabbits instead of chickens........
ReplyDeleteWe use to raise rabbits... we had five does birth at the same time. Then spontaneously their milk dried up a few days later. We had kits starving to death and does eating their kits..it was a hellish nightmare. Trying to save the remaining babes via bottle feeding was not fun... I will take my chicks any day!
ReplyDeleteI have to say even with all that we have talked about giving it a second try but rabbits are very anxious creatures and tend to be finicky mothers. I am still not sure if I want to travel that road again. Maybe with a different set up the out come would be different as well.
I am not sure if you are interested but there is a great book, "Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits". I love the Storeys series and they are great books as far as obtaining general info on raising new livestock. You may find it a worth while read.
Hope the chick is back in the nest and Mom is keeping better track of her brood. You did a great job of saving its life! Sure is a cute chick.
ReplyDeleteYes, chick is back with her mother and I was SOOOO happy... but now we have another chick. Basically the same scenerio. She quit sitting on the remaining eggs but I held out hope that she would come back (not to mention I picked her and her babies and put them all backin the nest, where they slept all night last night), Well apparently her being on the nest a little while last night was just enough warmth to allow another pep to start working its way out. I found another one this evening partially out of the egg and extremely cold. I have since brought her into the house in hopes she will dry out and be able to reconnect with her mom in the morning. I have to say even if I have to keep a few in the house over night, it still beats cleaning the brooder! ;)
ReplyDelete