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- #11
The chick I suspect to be a roo looked like a black Isbar. I had him up at the house yesterday, to have some one on one time with him. He slept on my shoulder. I was so hoping he would be a roo, he was so sweet to me and so responsible over his siblings. But that is not to be. I woke up to total devastation this morning. While walking down to go open up the coop, I heard cheeping. I found 6 chicks OUTSIDE the run. I build this run like Fort Knox, so I could not understand why they would be out there. After round the corner, I noticed my rooster and 2 laying hens out in the run. The coops door was wide open. When I went into to look for my broody Isbar mamma, and the rest of the chicks, they were not in there. The quails were out of their cage, but I couldn't deal with them. I went into panic mode. When I left the run, to rescue the chicks, I noticed black feathers from my mamma hen
I quickly got the chicks in. Their feet were ice cold. It went down to 13 C last night. I then went to try to find the rest of the chicks. There should have been 13 other chicks to find. I found what looked like a good fight from my sweet Broomhilda. It looks like she was trying to lead her chicks to the part of the fencing that the chicks can fit under. I tried calling for them, but I did not hear anything. I found the remains of 3 chicks, but nothing else. I am so hoping that the rest of the chicks are hiding at my neighbours somewhere. We had some favourites, like Chickie-Bit and Nugget.
So it turns out that my son let me down. He has the job of closing up the chickens every night. I sent him down, but he now claims he saw his sister lock them in. He is 13, his sister is 7. What he actually saw was my daughter in there handling the quail. This is why the quail were out, because she left their cage door open. The rooster had already brought his 2 hens in for the night, so my daughter just closed the door to the run. Broomhilda was still out with the chicks. Oh, and our Rex rabbit is out, over at the neighbours. I saw him this morning.
Needless to say, there is going to be a family talk when the kids get back. I have never seen such carelessness from them before. I'm just gutted. Broomy was the most perfect mother. I have eggs I plan to incubate, and she was going to be perfect to raise them. Now I have to rush and figure out how to handle the six chicks. They are standing in the cold, even though I keep bringing them in to the run next to the heater. They don't know what to do unless mom tells them. I will have to end up bringing them up to the house every night, until they are 6 weeks.
I'm just gutted
I quickly got the chicks in. Their feet were ice cold. It went down to 13 C last night. I then went to try to find the rest of the chicks. There should have been 13 other chicks to find. I found what looked like a good fight from my sweet Broomhilda. It looks like she was trying to lead her chicks to the part of the fencing that the chicks can fit under. I tried calling for them, but I did not hear anything. I found the remains of 3 chicks, but nothing else. I am so hoping that the rest of the chicks are hiding at my neighbours somewhere. We had some favourites, like Chickie-Bit and Nugget.
So it turns out that my son let me down. He has the job of closing up the chickens every night. I sent him down, but he now claims he saw his sister lock them in. He is 13, his sister is 7. What he actually saw was my daughter in there handling the quail. This is why the quail were out, because she left their cage door open. The rooster had already brought his 2 hens in for the night, so my daughter just closed the door to the run. Broomhilda was still out with the chicks. Oh, and our Rex rabbit is out, over at the neighbours. I saw him this morning.
Needless to say, there is going to be a family talk when the kids get back. I have never seen such carelessness from them before. I'm just gutted. Broomy was the most perfect mother. I have eggs I plan to incubate, and she was going to be perfect to raise them. Now I have to rush and figure out how to handle the six chicks. They are standing in the cold, even though I keep bringing them in to the run next to the heater. They don't know what to do unless mom tells them. I will have to end up bringing them up to the house every night, until they are 6 weeks.
I'm just gutted
