All is well. We are growing new feathers and getting to know all the new chicks in the pen. We sleep in a great big pile. If a bug finds it's way into our box we capture it and run around like crazy.
Hope all is well with our foster families. When we finish growing most of our feathers we will head off to the farm.
We had a nice reunion with the chicks and the their "chick mommies & daddies". We shared common joys and tears of this experience. One of the favorite activities was taking the chicks out in the sunshine to see the big wide world.
The chicks will return today for the Reunion Party. Each foster "parent" will share special moments of their experience and show a poster that will be on display at the library for the next several weeks.
We have had some great times watching chicken behavior and bonding with the small dependent balls of fluff. We have had some sad times too. Two chicks died a few days after hatching with no apparent cause. Sometimes the chicks don't develop properly and can not grow. We talked about the possibility that not all chicks that hatch will survive. It is difficult when they become our little friends and we have to deal with loss. For those who have lost pets it is easy to understand the sadness and then acceptance of the reality of nature.
We will celebrate with fun pictures and stories of our fine feathered friends. We hope that our chicks grow into beautiful egg laying hens like Margie and Ginny! We will update you on the next farm they will go to.
100% Hatched! All 41 chicks seem to be doing fine.
Just a great picture!
Four chicks hatched over night. Stay tuned! The remaining five have cracks in them and will probably hatch by the end of the day.
Doug Akers joined us tonight for a Chicken Question and Answer session. Whitey, the Bantam Leghorn rooster, is always the star of the show and anxious to take center stage by crowing in his pen.
The most popular question tonight was, "How do you know the difference between a male and female chicken?" or "How do you tell the difference between the boys and girls? or " What is the difference between a rooster and a hen?". Doug said one of the best ways to tell the difference is by looking at their feathers. The saddle feathers on a rooster will be pointy and the female hen saddle feathers will be more round.
We learned that most hens will lay one egg a day and that the eggs in the grocery store can not hatch into chicks. If an egg is layed by a hen in Whitey's family it will hatch in 21 days. But... chick development does not start until the egg reaches around 100 degrees F. It could sit at room temperature for a week before it starts to grow! Did you know that?
Thank you Doug! You teach us something new every year about our fowl feathered friends!
Funn and Funny were the last of the chicks to go home Wednesday. Funny has a few little black feathers, we wonder if they will continue to grow.
Camile and James went on their new adventure with a very excited family. We are anxious to hear how the siblings enjoy their time in Zionsville.
Chip and Cheep went home after an exciting day. Cheep gave her foster mom a little warm surprise while we were taking this picture. Fortunately, momma remained calm and waited for a tissue to clean up... this is just the beginning of a lot of clean ups;)
Lemon and Cutie are in loving hands. They will have a fun time on Mother's Day in their new home.
Fuzz and Mudbud arrived safe and sound to their new home. It appears they have a cozy spot in the family living room.
