We made it through the night and still had 7 chicks the first morning. I was proud. Proud because we had managed to keep 7 living things alive and proud that I didn't have to give my boys the "one didn't make it" speech yet. Usually when I crawl out of bed after a broken up night of sleep with Carson, I find Austin either in bed sleeping still or snuggled under his green blankie on the couch. This morning, he was no where to be found. Where did I find him? Green blankie in hand and sitting with the girls. He ate breakfast with them and I had a lot of pursuing to get him to come in to get dressed and not show-off his scooby-doo jammies all day.
Day two I quickly went to "vent cleaning" duty. I had read in more than one book that "pasting up" could be a real issue for new chicks. For those of you not familiar with "pasting" and "vent" terms... just use your imagination. Yup, that's right. Their vent can quickly become pasted up with poo. And that is no enjoyable experience for any chic, feathered or not. As I reached down into the box to grab a chic and examine her vent, I would clean any necessary bums with a wet wipe and then hand the chic to a boy to hold until all had been examined. For the most, vent areas were clean.
One of our black silkie gals was still hobbling pretty bad on her right foot, so I attempted to correct the leg sticking out by using a band-aid to make a little splint and hold it in place. Susan from My Pet Chicken was super helpful when I called and asked what to do about old hop along. I separated little Joanie (quickly given a strong gals name, after Joan of Arc) from the others with an old baking dish and her own bed of shavings. Day 2 was spent monitoring her, hand watering her, and making sure she didn't get pecked at by the healthy gals.
By day 2 these awesome chicks also had some awesome visitors. We've had a handful here and there of little and big friends coming to meet the girls. My boys love showing off their flock and I think the chicks don't mind being the center of attention a little too. What chic doesn't like a little praising? By the end of day 2 we had mastered the heat lamp height to give the gals a good 90 degree feel to their oasis (chicks need to stay under a heat lamp source first couple weeks at about 90 degrees) and all went to bed that night with the sweet little chirps of day old chicks still ringing in our ears. Check back to see what day 3 brings us!
How I found Austin first thing Wednesday morning...
They made it through the night!
These Rhode Island reds seem to be about a day or two ahead of the silkies. See their little "real" feathers starting to poke out on their wings already!?
His camping post...ready and waiting.
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