So, we were having a hard time keeping the little hatchlings alive. Not sure if it was a cat or dog killing them, probably one of the horse boarder's dogs when she wasn't looking, as we'd just find little carcasses around the yard. I didn't want to lose the whole clutch, so I had my girlfriend take two to home for hand raising. She got really attached to one of them, but at 5 weeks they were outgrowing and flying out of the box she was using. I told her to bring them back and we'd swap out for some younger ones. So she brings them over last night, we set the two chicks down to get acquainted with the big girls, who do a bit of posturing, but only one took a swipe at them. We decide to go in for dinner, then come back at dusk to make sure they find their way into the coop.
Welllll....... we can only find one chick, and it's not her favorite one. Spent an hour looking underneath horsetrailers and amongst farm equipment in the dark with flashlights. As we give up a storm rolls through and it rains all night. I'm certain that if she wasn't already dead, there's no way she's survive the night.
At 9 am, one of the horse boarders calls me over and shows me a chick huddling amongst her horses underneath a lean-to. Sure enough! It's her favorite chick, who managed to get 200 yards from where we left her and her sister last night. And somehow she didn't get trampled or wet and freezing. It got down to the 40s and rained ALL night long. The little things are tougher than you'd think. She's now up under a heat lamp and doing fine, but it was a good little scare for a while there.
Welllll....... we can only find one chick, and it's not her favorite one. Spent an hour looking underneath horsetrailers and amongst farm equipment in the dark with flashlights. As we give up a storm rolls through and it rains all night. I'm certain that if she wasn't already dead, there's no way she's survive the night.
At 9 am, one of the horse boarders calls me over and shows me a chick huddling amongst her horses underneath a lean-to. Sure enough! It's her favorite chick, who managed to get 200 yards from where we left her and her sister last night. And somehow she didn't get trampled or wet and freezing. It got down to the 40s and rained ALL night long. The little things are tougher than you'd think. She's now up under a heat lamp and doing fine, but it was a good little scare for a while there.
