Granny's gone and done it again

I lost my second Cornish chick today. One let out a squawk yesterday and when we went in to see what was going on, we found one chick sitting on her sister's head, which died shortly after. Then today, another chick, which has been smaller than the others from day one, was acting lethargic so I separated her to keep an eye on her. I made sure she was drinking and tried to get her to eat but she wasn't interested. Her crop was full almost up to her beak and felt tight and hard. I massaged it gently for her for a bit and put her in a warm place, but she didn't survive. Nine remain. We have moved them to the outside brooder. They are already so big I need both hands to pick them up.
 
The Gems and PBE are being taught to sleep in the Big House. They don't wanna, but the brooder is now occupied by the Cornish chicks. We had quite a rodeo tonight, trying to herd them into the Big House at dusk. We ended up having to catch them one by one and stuff them in. DH and GC did the catching while I operated the door, cracking it to let them put the captives in, shutting it quickly to prevent escapes. At least it wasn't raining!
 
I've been thinking about ordering a dozen Cornish Cross pullets just for breeding stock. I'd like to breed them back to a dark cornish rooster and see if i might get a 3/4 White Cornish rooster out of the mix. What ever the color they would be able to breed naturally unlike the cornish cross themselves.
 
The Gems and PBE are being taught to sleep in the Big House. They don't wanna, but the brooder is now occupied by the Cornish chicks. We had quite a rodeo tonight, trying to herd them into the Big House at dusk. We ended up having to catch them one by one and stuff them in. DH and GC did the catching while I operated the door, cracking it to let them put the captives in, shutting it quickly to prevent escapes. At least it wasn't raining!
Keep them inside for a week until they get the ldea that's their place.
 

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