Now that our chickens have hatched, we feel comfortable counting them . . . there are TEN! Really that is an impressive number of chicks, don't you think? Originally eleven chicks hatched, but one died the first day, possibly attacked by the other hen or the rooster. The twelth egg I eventually opened, and saw that a chick had developed within, but had died before hatching.
This morning, when I came out of my house, I heard chicks making especially loud, urgent peeps. At first I thought they were just hungry, but then I saw that a chick had managed to get out of the chicken house (which is really an old dog house). The previous occupant of the house had chewed some small holes in the sides, that we hadn't noticed, but the chicks had found!
I jumped into action, moving the other chickens and the dogs out of the area, and started "Operation Look Like a Fool Chasing Tiny Helpless Chicks Who Can Run Really Fast." I first discovered that not one, but two tiny helpless chicks had escaped from their house. They had also slipped under the wire of the chicken coop, and had myriad places to hide in the yard and on the carport.
My house helper, Mirna, arrived and joined right into the spirit of the situation. Christopher had to be dragged from his bed to grudgingly help. Chris brought loads of bricks from the pile in the backyard, and tried to stop up all the holes where the poor helpless babes could slip under the fence, while Mirna and I did our Keystone Kops imitation, including one scene where a wee chick ran between my legs! Too bad there wasn't a video camera around . . . I could've won big bucks on one of those funniest video TV shows!
For about half an hour we chased those miniature troublemakers around the yard, in and around and under everything!
Eventually it was Christopher who managed to catch both chicks and return them to their oblivious mother. I guess with ten babies to manage, it's easy to misplace a couple of them. Mama Gorgeous and family have now settled down to a breakfast of mashed egg and rice inside their newly secured house.
And I need a shower!
Ohhhh, and I'll try to get some pictures of the chicks posted later today or tomorrow. They're adorable (though rather troublesome)!
1 comment:
how fun to have you back on to blogging. we are having fun in the u.s. and sam is really eying those chicks as if she should have one. mmm, we will have to see about her own chicken sometime.
trish
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