Here a Chick, There A Chick….Chick

 

On Friday I decided that the other two eggs underneath Mrs Cotton, my Japanese Silky weren’t going to hatch. She was still sitting on them, but she had her new chick to take care of, too. So, I decided to have a look see….which I always dislike, because I worry that I might find a still alive chick inside and will have killed it once I crack open it’s egg.

I did find a chick inside the first egg I cracked open, but it was floating in a sea of putrid black/green liquid and wasn’t fully formed. Still it made me sad. I was relieved to find that the other egg was just a stinky yolk with no signs of fertilization.

After discarding the broken eggs, I took a drive down to one of local feed stores to go ‘Chick Shopping’. It’s much easier for chicks/pullets to integrate into a flock if they’re not alone. There’s safety in numbers. And this tiny little chick born last Monday needed a few siblings.

The feed store had close to a hundred chicks available, so it was difficult to make a choice.

They had a poor little duck with a bent neck damaged during shipping. They were trying to help heal it by using a makeshift splint.

I knew I wanted some different breeds than I already have, but didn’t want more than three chicks because I don’t want my flock to become crowded and I don’t want Mrs. Cotton overwhelmed with her mothering duties, either.

So Jenna helped me choose and we decided on a Buff Orpington and a Black Star (combination of Rhode Island Red and Barred Rock).

So without further ado, please welcome, Matilda the Buff Orpington.

 

She’s a week older than our chick born last week, and the Black Star that was born three days ago, so she looks much bigger.

She’s already doing a lot of feathering out, too.

We’ve decided to name our puffy headed progeny of Sid Vicious, Pat…as in Pat Benatar.

See the resemblance? lol!

And last, but not least, our Black Star chick, now named Liza………as in Liza Minelli.

See the resemblance? lol!

And here they are all three, Pat, Matilda, and Liza.

I’ve since moved them out of the small animal condo inside the chicken house and moved them into a large rabbit cage/brooder inside the garage. They have more room to run around instead of always being under Mr’s Cotton’s feet. I’ll try to remember to take some pictures of them in their new digs, next week.

Speaking of Mrs. Cotton, she is beside herself with happiness to have another brood to raise. She is also more relaxed about me handling them this time around and doesn’t peck at me or give me warning clucks and squawks. I love listening to her and watching her with her chicks. It’s so easy to just let her raise them and seems more natural, too.

 

And I was amazed at how quickly these new chicks took to their new adopted status, even the older chick, Matilda, who scoots right under Mrs. Cotton’s wings just like the other two chicks.