I have tiny chicks from the local farm supply store. It tears at my heart how they all get so happy, and fall asleep immediately, when I let them snuggle under my chin, with a T-shirt over them. I can just feel how they are longing to be under their mom. I am the closest they can get.
Once, when I was a young teenager, I caught a kangaroo rat, in the desert. I put it in a cage, in my room. It was cold that night, and the little guy got loose, and got in bed with me, no doubt for warmth. In the morning I found him there, dead. I had rolled onto him and killed him. I still grieve for that poor little creature. The memory aches.
So, while I want to let these babies find comfort in cuddling, I cannot relax, for fear of drifting off (I'm old, and this happens fairly often) and damaging them. I just couldn't stand that. Now that I realize how much they crave the comfort, I also can't bear to just let them be there, with nothing but space and a heat lamp. It seems cruel to me.
What I need, I think, is some sort of shell, that will allow them close enough for contact, but protect them in case I roll over. I guess it should attach to me, so that it can't get pushed out of the way, and they also won't wake up before I do, and wander off.
Can anyone think of a way to accomplish this? Is anyone crazy enough to have come up with something similar? I will value any suggestions or blue prints! Well, all suggestions other than, "seek therapy ' I've tried. That's how I ended up with chickens.
Once, when I was a young teenager, I caught a kangaroo rat, in the desert. I put it in a cage, in my room. It was cold that night, and the little guy got loose, and got in bed with me, no doubt for warmth. In the morning I found him there, dead. I had rolled onto him and killed him. I still grieve for that poor little creature. The memory aches.
So, while I want to let these babies find comfort in cuddling, I cannot relax, for fear of drifting off (I'm old, and this happens fairly often) and damaging them. I just couldn't stand that. Now that I realize how much they crave the comfort, I also can't bear to just let them be there, with nothing but space and a heat lamp. It seems cruel to me.
What I need, I think, is some sort of shell, that will allow them close enough for contact, but protect them in case I roll over. I guess it should attach to me, so that it can't get pushed out of the way, and they also won't wake up before I do, and wander off.
Can anyone think of a way to accomplish this? Is anyone crazy enough to have come up with something similar? I will value any suggestions or blue prints! Well, all suggestions other than, "seek therapy ' I've tried. That's how I ended up with chickens.
