Pasted
The chicks are all doing well, running around and peeping and scratching. This evening they have been out of the shell long enough that we could put shavings down on the floor instead of just newspapers. I picked the chicks up and put them in holding boxes so I could clear out the inside of the brooder and have a clear field on which to scatter the shavings. The first chick I picked up had a big plug of poop on its vent; I put all the other chicks with that coloring in a different box.
When I'd cleared out the pen I scattered about an inch and a half of shavings all over the floor. I got to break in my new mucking boots! Then I put the chicks back in the pen and boy, were they excited! They'd been peeping most mournfully in the boxes, but when they got their toes on the shavings it was as though all my manhandling of them had been forgiven. They looked positively gleeful as they dug around in the shavings.
Several of them had pooped in the boxes, but plugchick was still plugged. After I put all the rest back in the pen, I took the one sorry chick upstairs to the kitchen, ran the tap to get warm water, and used a rag and warm water to clean the fouled bum. By the end of the process, the chick was shivering and not really moving otherwise. Poor chilly chicken. Upon being returned to the pen, the wet chick set to preening its down, but within a few minutes it, along with all the others, was merrily engaged in kicking shavings all over the place.
I got curious about their eating habits. I wanted to know if they'd peck at things that were not chick feed. I had an apple for my dessert, and I set the core in the pen. The red peel got a few pecks, but mostly they'd peck once at the flesh and then go wipe their beaks, as if trying to get rid of a nasty flavor. I used a box lid to fetch a spider from the ceiling and set the whole kit in the pen. Eventually a chick came over and pecked at a bit of the web. The spider, which had been motionless up to that point, took a couple of steps. This got the attention of every chick nearby. The first chick moved to peck at the spider and the spider dodged and ran across the pen, with about 15 chicks in hot pursuit. A scuffle not unlike an American football match ended that experiment. All the chicks walked away, but I saw no spider emerge. Aoibheall will be so pleased.
When I'd cleared out the pen I scattered about an inch and a half of shavings all over the floor. I got to break in my new mucking boots! Then I put the chicks back in the pen and boy, were they excited! They'd been peeping most mournfully in the boxes, but when they got their toes on the shavings it was as though all my manhandling of them had been forgiven. They looked positively gleeful as they dug around in the shavings.
Several of them had pooped in the boxes, but plugchick was still plugged. After I put all the rest back in the pen, I took the one sorry chick upstairs to the kitchen, ran the tap to get warm water, and used a rag and warm water to clean the fouled bum. By the end of the process, the chick was shivering and not really moving otherwise. Poor chilly chicken. Upon being returned to the pen, the wet chick set to preening its down, but within a few minutes it, along with all the others, was merrily engaged in kicking shavings all over the place.
I got curious about their eating habits. I wanted to know if they'd peck at things that were not chick feed. I had an apple for my dessert, and I set the core in the pen. The red peel got a few pecks, but mostly they'd peck once at the flesh and then go wipe their beaks, as if trying to get rid of a nasty flavor. I used a box lid to fetch a spider from the ceiling and set the whole kit in the pen. Eventually a chick came over and pecked at a bit of the web. The spider, which had been motionless up to that point, took a couple of steps. This got the attention of every chick nearby. The first chick moved to peck at the spider and the spider dodged and ran across the pen, with about 15 chicks in hot pursuit. A scuffle not unlike an American football match ended that experiment. All the chicks walked away, but I saw no spider emerge. Aoibheall will be so pleased.
posted by PirateGuillermo | 11:08 PM
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