I checked on my broody Buff Orpington this morning. She is sitting on 5 Bourbon Red eggs. I thought they were due to hatch on Monday. I peeked in and saw this little guy laying in the pine shavings away from the hen. I remembered Steve say "a cold poult is a dead poult." So, the paramedic in me kicked in. I first tucked him under the hen, then thought he won't warm up fast enough. I picked him up and stuck him in my shirt, then went to the house. I sat with him a little and decided that wasn't warm enough or fast enough, so I called an 85yo "chicken lady." (Internet was down ALL day) She said to stick him in the oven. I got out my digital thermometer and put him on a towel. I kept the temp at about 100*. He really started perking up. He opened his eyes and started cheeping. Then he started to move and fall over so I put him in a deeper casserole dish. I eventually put him in a bread pan to keep him from falling out of the pan. After he was completely dry, I put him in my shirt again with the warm towel. He snuggled in a little, but then started peeping non-stop. When he was finally able to crawl out of my shirt, I took him back to Mama. It took him a minute to figure out how to get under her. I was afraid she wouldn't let him in, since he had been gone. Nope. He figured out how to get under her and she let him. DH and I went out this evening and lifted her to see if everything was ok. Everyone was fine and warm. 5 poults out of 5 eggs. Pretty exciting. These are my first hatchlings.
