That is so sad Puddin Fluff. Sorry for the loss of the chicks and rejoice in the survivor well.....surviving. These things do happen. Chickens aren't the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree but the eggs make up for the lack of smarts.
Our chicks had their first outing yesterday and then today in their little enclosure that I made for them. I think Mom was just glad to get out and get a dirt bath because that was the first thing that she did. The chicks were very alarmed at her behavior. They ran around her squealing and flapping their little wings then suddenly 5 of them flopped beside her and started their own first dirt bath. What a hoot. Little legs and wings were going every way imaginable and when Aggie stretched out her legs she would eventually kick one of the chicks out of the dust bowl only to have it do a roll over and dive back in again.
So far, three have chosen their names. We already had Rocky and Seven named as they hatched in the house but yesterday I was watching the first chick hatched take running leaps and jump on Aggie's back and ride her around the enclosure and noticed that the little devil has a comb developing already. OH OH! Cockerel alert. He is a handful and while 2 weeks is probably a little early to really tell but if by chance it turns out to be a Prima instead of a Primo then we are covered there.
Are any of you noticing an upswing in bad behavior in your roosters? It's a spring thing, testosterone surges, blah blah blah, but I swear that if my roosters don't cool it, the hens snubbing them is going to be the least of their worries. I spend a good deal of time every time I enter the coop area running down, catching and chastising 3 of our 4 boys. Usually they are respectful but lately they seem determined to spend a lot of their time being carried around by me and forced to squat like a hen. They aren't being overly aggressive just obnoxious. My Lavender O Larry pushed the limit today and went after my muck boot while I was bent over. I caught him, noted that he had a wound on hsi comb, probably from having a bad boy attitude with the alpha roosters as well as with me, and when I steadied his head to look at it, the little booger bit me. Not hard, just hard enough. What was funny was the two alpha roosters were watching and when that happened, they both growled and it was in perfect tone so they sounded like they were saying Oh, Oh. If they could talk, they would have probably said, 'DUDE! You are in so much deep trouble! Don't bite the TREAT LADY!'
I finally got tired of hauling his 15 pound backside around, put him down and went inside to rub antibiotics on my bite marks.
Our chicks had their first outing yesterday and then today in their little enclosure that I made for them. I think Mom was just glad to get out and get a dirt bath because that was the first thing that she did. The chicks were very alarmed at her behavior. They ran around her squealing and flapping their little wings then suddenly 5 of them flopped beside her and started their own first dirt bath. What a hoot. Little legs and wings were going every way imaginable and when Aggie stretched out her legs she would eventually kick one of the chicks out of the dust bowl only to have it do a roll over and dive back in again.
So far, three have chosen their names. We already had Rocky and Seven named as they hatched in the house but yesterday I was watching the first chick hatched take running leaps and jump on Aggie's back and ride her around the enclosure and noticed that the little devil has a comb developing already. OH OH! Cockerel alert. He is a handful and while 2 weeks is probably a little early to really tell but if by chance it turns out to be a Prima instead of a Primo then we are covered there.
Are any of you noticing an upswing in bad behavior in your roosters? It's a spring thing, testosterone surges, blah blah blah, but I swear that if my roosters don't cool it, the hens snubbing them is going to be the least of their worries. I spend a good deal of time every time I enter the coop area running down, catching and chastising 3 of our 4 boys. Usually they are respectful but lately they seem determined to spend a lot of their time being carried around by me and forced to squat like a hen. They aren't being overly aggressive just obnoxious. My Lavender O Larry pushed the limit today and went after my muck boot while I was bent over. I caught him, noted that he had a wound on hsi comb, probably from having a bad boy attitude with the alpha roosters as well as with me, and when I steadied his head to look at it, the little booger bit me. Not hard, just hard enough. What was funny was the two alpha roosters were watching and when that happened, they both growled and it was in perfect tone so they sounded like they were saying Oh, Oh. If they could talk, they would have probably said, 'DUDE! You are in so much deep trouble! Don't bite the TREAT LADY!'
I finally got tired of hauling his 15 pound backside around, put him down and went inside to rub antibiotics on my bite marks.
