This page will be an on going chronicle of the trials and tribulations of my pet rooster Chicken-Butt. It will also server as a warning to all who decide to have a solitary pet chicken.
Having had multiple types of pets, from Guinea pigs to budgies I honestly never expected a chicken to be so challenging, now though I honestly wish my parents had gotten me a pet chicken instead of that damn Parakeet. Anyway here is the long and short of how I got Chicken-Butt.
I moved to Hawaii more than a year ago, one day while I was out doing a job for my landlady I noticed that a nest of chicks had hatched. I knew where the hen had hidden said nest so I went to see how many of the eggs had hatched. To my surprise only two out of the dozen or so had successfully made it through the shell. Curious I picked one up and turned it over, wondering if the little one inside had even made an attempt or if it was a dud. Duds are boiled and fed to the monkeys we have here on the property, ahh the circle of life. I was even more surprised when the little beak sticking out of the shell peeped at me.
Ohh yes, the tiny ice cold egg peeped. Before I even understood what I was doing I pealed away the cream colored shell to reveal the gooey little creature inside. I cupped my hand over him and blew warm air on to the cold chick, then went to the nearest house in the compound. I ran warm water over him while my friend grabbed a bit of cloth to wrap the chick in, it was then that I noticed the little thing was bleeding. I realized that I must have cut it with a piece of shell, I quickly wrapped it in the cloth and went back to my place.
I put the little thing on top of my boyfriends laptop to keep it warm while I looked for a needle and thread. I grabbed said supplies and some alcohol, I washed the cut and quickly stitched it up, but the little thing wasn't moving. The chick was still peeping quietly so I knew it was alive, I wrapped it in the cloth and put it back on top of the computer. I went back out and quickly finished my job, it went towards my rent so it had to be done. I got back and the little thing was still peeping softly, so I grabbed a dropper that came with my airbrush kit.
I then filled the dropper with warm water and forced the chicks mouth open and carefully dropped some water in. The little chick, no bigger than my thumb, was still chilled so I rubbed it vigorously like you would a kitten or puppy. Then I did what every one good with pets does in an emergency, I called someone who could help. My parents. My father, who had experience with chickens said that usually if they don't hatch then theres something wrong. My parents gave me some advice but warned me that no mater that I did there was a good chance that the chick would die anyway.
Accepting this I went on the porch with the chick and sat in the sun, I laid the little chick on its back in the sun on the warm wood and started to roll it back and forth, forcing it to kick it's little feet and get the blood flowing. I gave it more water and had my boy friend get a little meat-bird feed, I crushed said feed into powder mixed with warm water and dropper fed the mixture to the chick. I repeated this process for the better part of the day.
The little creature was finally warm and was peeping vigorously, that night we cut up some boxes and made the chick a little coop we placed it next to the computer fan so that the warm air would blow into the box then out the top. I made sure that the chick was full of water so that the constant flow of hot air wouldn't dehydrate it.
The next morning we got up and the chick had defied all expectations, it was struggling to get out of the box and move around. I took it out and dropper fed the little thing more feed, I had tried to get it to peck at the dry food but it refused. It was while I was forcing the little things mouth open that I realized I knew nothing about chickens! So I got on the Internet and look until I found BYC, I read some articles, asked some questions and now I have a healthy relatively well trained pet rooster... but thats not the end
Having had multiple types of pets, from Guinea pigs to budgies I honestly never expected a chicken to be so challenging, now though I honestly wish my parents had gotten me a pet chicken instead of that damn Parakeet. Anyway here is the long and short of how I got Chicken-Butt.
I moved to Hawaii more than a year ago, one day while I was out doing a job for my landlady I noticed that a nest of chicks had hatched. I knew where the hen had hidden said nest so I went to see how many of the eggs had hatched. To my surprise only two out of the dozen or so had successfully made it through the shell. Curious I picked one up and turned it over, wondering if the little one inside had even made an attempt or if it was a dud. Duds are boiled and fed to the monkeys we have here on the property, ahh the circle of life. I was even more surprised when the little beak sticking out of the shell peeped at me.
Ohh yes, the tiny ice cold egg peeped. Before I even understood what I was doing I pealed away the cream colored shell to reveal the gooey little creature inside. I cupped my hand over him and blew warm air on to the cold chick, then went to the nearest house in the compound. I ran warm water over him while my friend grabbed a bit of cloth to wrap the chick in, it was then that I noticed the little thing was bleeding. I realized that I must have cut it with a piece of shell, I quickly wrapped it in the cloth and went back to my place.
I put the little thing on top of my boyfriends laptop to keep it warm while I looked for a needle and thread. I grabbed said supplies and some alcohol, I washed the cut and quickly stitched it up, but the little thing wasn't moving. The chick was still peeping quietly so I knew it was alive, I wrapped it in the cloth and put it back on top of the computer. I went back out and quickly finished my job, it went towards my rent so it had to be done. I got back and the little thing was still peeping softly, so I grabbed a dropper that came with my airbrush kit.
I then filled the dropper with warm water and forced the chicks mouth open and carefully dropped some water in. The little chick, no bigger than my thumb, was still chilled so I rubbed it vigorously like you would a kitten or puppy. Then I did what every one good with pets does in an emergency, I called someone who could help. My parents. My father, who had experience with chickens said that usually if they don't hatch then theres something wrong. My parents gave me some advice but warned me that no mater that I did there was a good chance that the chick would die anyway.
Accepting this I went on the porch with the chick and sat in the sun, I laid the little chick on its back in the sun on the warm wood and started to roll it back and forth, forcing it to kick it's little feet and get the blood flowing. I gave it more water and had my boy friend get a little meat-bird feed, I crushed said feed into powder mixed with warm water and dropper fed the mixture to the chick. I repeated this process for the better part of the day.
The little creature was finally warm and was peeping vigorously, that night we cut up some boxes and made the chick a little coop we placed it next to the computer fan so that the warm air would blow into the box then out the top. I made sure that the chick was full of water so that the constant flow of hot air wouldn't dehydrate it.
The next morning we got up and the chick had defied all expectations, it was struggling to get out of the box and move around. I took it out and dropper fed the little thing more feed, I had tried to get it to peck at the dry food but it refused. It was while I was forcing the little things mouth open that I realized I knew nothing about chickens! So I got on the Internet and look until I found BYC, I read some articles, asked some questions and now I have a healthy relatively well trained pet rooster... but thats not the end
