Bad News:
After all the eggs I set, I finally got 4 fertile ones. 3 hatched & the last is pipped & peeping in incubator. I moved them into coop with Jewel. She was fine and all set up in a broody pen. This set up has always worked before.
Jewel and chicks in the corner of floor. Feeder & waterer hanging on the plastic gate.
Normally, there's a little audience around the pen when the chicks first arrive, but then they go back to normal. But apparently, the other hens decided they wanted to be in there to eat the chick feed. I went out to do a check and found a chick trying to get itself back behind the divider. Then I noticed there were only 2. I called the kids & we searched everywhere. After a pretty thorough search of the coop & run (and not hearing any peeping), we began searching for a body. Then I saw the horrific sight. Mr Potential was in the garden eating something. Not only was he eating the chick, but he ran away from the flock so he could have it all to himself.
I can't say if he was the killer or if he simply won the game of steal the treat. It could have been a curious turkey poult. The culprit may not have even realized it was a baby chick. I don't think I had any day-olds in there this year. Most of the chicks were raised by broody bantams and housed in the garage. I can't understand why Jewel didn't fight back. She outweighs every bird out there!
So now I'm down to 2 chicks and hopefully I'll have another by morning. Jewel is in an outdoor rabbit hutch. She did not take the chicks into the covered area but is on the wire floor area with them.
After all the eggs I set, I finally got 4 fertile ones. 3 hatched & the last is pipped & peeping in incubator. I moved them into coop with Jewel. She was fine and all set up in a broody pen. This set up has always worked before.
Jewel and chicks in the corner of floor. Feeder & waterer hanging on the plastic gate.
Normally, there's a little audience around the pen when the chicks first arrive, but then they go back to normal. But apparently, the other hens decided they wanted to be in there to eat the chick feed. I went out to do a check and found a chick trying to get itself back behind the divider. Then I noticed there were only 2. I called the kids & we searched everywhere. After a pretty thorough search of the coop & run (and not hearing any peeping), we began searching for a body. Then I saw the horrific sight. Mr Potential was in the garden eating something. Not only was he eating the chick, but he ran away from the flock so he could have it all to himself.
I can't say if he was the killer or if he simply won the game of steal the treat. It could have been a curious turkey poult. The culprit may not have even realized it was a baby chick. I don't think I had any day-olds in there this year. Most of the chicks were raised by broody bantams and housed in the garage. I can't understand why Jewel didn't fight back. She outweighs every bird out there!
So now I'm down to 2 chicks and hopefully I'll have another by morning. Jewel is in an outdoor rabbit hutch. She did not take the chicks into the covered area but is on the wire floor area with them.
