I am constantly amazed at the resilience of chickens! I have had chickens survive brutal attacks by roaming dogs or hawks with wounds that would give you nightmares.
This one absolutely amazes me, though -
Blackie, an almost 9-year-old Jersey Giant hen, is a professional mother. She is often broody, raises many chicks, and even accepts chicks that other mothers abandon. She's the best! Earlier this week, her latest eggs started hatching. The last one hatched in late afternoon. The next morning when I went to check on them, the poor thing was lifeless, cold, and damp, lying in front of Blackie. It was a cool night and it obviously somehow had not gotten under her for the night. I picked it up to dispose of it and heard a tiny peep! Well, of course I immediately took it in the house and put it under a heat lamp. I held it close to the heat and rubbed with a paper towel for several minutes, then layed it in a bowl under the lamp. I didn't think it had a chance - it was just laying there gasping for breath.
Over the morning, it dried off and fluffed out, but still couldn't seem to stand. When evening came, I took it back outside to Blackie and put it under her with the rest of her chicks. Yesterday morning, I went outside, expecting it to be dead in the box, but this is what I saw -
It's the little one in the upper left, still a little slower and smaller than the rest at that point.
I kept watch over the course of the day yesterday. Yesterday afternoon I let Blackie and children out of her pen for a few minutes. All five babies ran out behind her and enjoyed a bit of scratching and time in the sun. I can no longer tell which of the two black chicks was the "dead" one.
And people say there aren't any miracles!
This one absolutely amazes me, though -
Blackie, an almost 9-year-old Jersey Giant hen, is a professional mother. She is often broody, raises many chicks, and even accepts chicks that other mothers abandon. She's the best! Earlier this week, her latest eggs started hatching. The last one hatched in late afternoon. The next morning when I went to check on them, the poor thing was lifeless, cold, and damp, lying in front of Blackie. It was a cool night and it obviously somehow had not gotten under her for the night. I picked it up to dispose of it and heard a tiny peep! Well, of course I immediately took it in the house and put it under a heat lamp. I held it close to the heat and rubbed with a paper towel for several minutes, then layed it in a bowl under the lamp. I didn't think it had a chance - it was just laying there gasping for breath.
Over the morning, it dried off and fluffed out, but still couldn't seem to stand. When evening came, I took it back outside to Blackie and put it under her with the rest of her chicks. Yesterday morning, I went outside, expecting it to be dead in the box, but this is what I saw -
It's the little one in the upper left, still a little slower and smaller than the rest at that point.
I kept watch over the course of the day yesterday. Yesterday afternoon I let Blackie and children out of her pen for a few minutes. All five babies ran out behind her and enjoyed a bit of scratching and time in the sun. I can no longer tell which of the two black chicks was the "dead" one.
And people say there aren't any miracles!
