Yesterday I brought home four two-day-old chicks (1 SL Wyandotte, 1 Barred Rock, 1 ISA Brown, and 1 EE). Had them all set up in their short-term makeshift brooder in the bathroom for a few days until I need to move them to the kiddie pool we use to brood larger chicks. Put them to bed last night and all was fine.
Then, about midnight we lost power. This never happens so we have no back-up. Of course my first thought was the chicks. Checked on them and they seemed pretty snug because the bathroom was closed up and retaining heat pretty well. Tried to sleep but kept waking up wondering if they were okay.
Finally, I'm guessing sometime around 2 or 3 am I went in there and they were huddled together and seemed to be getting cold. What is a mama to do? I picked them up and stuck them under my shirt. Oh, they snuggled right in, loving the warmth. But, I couldn't sit in the bathroom all night so...I took my chicks to bed with me.
First I warned my husband that I had the chicks in the bed--kind of like when I used to tell him the baby was now in bed with us. I don't think he even woke up, really. Then, I laid flat on my back and let the chicks arrange themselves on my belly and then tucked my shirt around them so they wouldn't fall off and get squished. I could feel their little claws digging in at first but then everything went soft as they settled down. All the pipping stopped and they appeared to be sound asleep--which was a good thing because I was hoping if they slept deeply they wouldn't start pooping.
Around 6am the power came back on. Thank God! The chicks were sleepy little balls of fluff when I slowly transferred them back to their brooder and warming light. And...no poop! So, I guess they passed a comfortable night with their substitute mama brooder hen!
Not so comfortable for me--sleeping perfectly still on my back doesn't really work for me. It was a reminder of why I was in a perpetual sleep-dazed fog during my children's infancy. Let's hope for no more power outages!
Then, about midnight we lost power. This never happens so we have no back-up. Of course my first thought was the chicks. Checked on them and they seemed pretty snug because the bathroom was closed up and retaining heat pretty well. Tried to sleep but kept waking up wondering if they were okay.
Finally, I'm guessing sometime around 2 or 3 am I went in there and they were huddled together and seemed to be getting cold. What is a mama to do? I picked them up and stuck them under my shirt. Oh, they snuggled right in, loving the warmth. But, I couldn't sit in the bathroom all night so...I took my chicks to bed with me.
First I warned my husband that I had the chicks in the bed--kind of like when I used to tell him the baby was now in bed with us. I don't think he even woke up, really. Then, I laid flat on my back and let the chicks arrange themselves on my belly and then tucked my shirt around them so they wouldn't fall off and get squished. I could feel their little claws digging in at first but then everything went soft as they settled down. All the pipping stopped and they appeared to be sound asleep--which was a good thing because I was hoping if they slept deeply they wouldn't start pooping.
Around 6am the power came back on. Thank God! The chicks were sleepy little balls of fluff when I slowly transferred them back to their brooder and warming light. And...no poop! So, I guess they passed a comfortable night with their substitute mama brooder hen!
Not so comfortable for me--sleeping perfectly still on my back doesn't really work for me. It was a reminder of why I was in a perpetual sleep-dazed fog during my children's infancy. Let's hope for no more power outages!
