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atsw

First Pictures - Adopted Chicks!

By atsw, in Chickens, Eggs and Hatching

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atsw Chatty Chicken

atsw

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I thought I'd start a new thread, as the saga of the last few days has pushed the original thread about my chicks to over three pages!

 

Anyway, suffice to say, this is fantastic :dance: .

 

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One of the two lighter chicks was first to emerge. It was soooo sweet, Di (the Broody) gave her a little nudge with her beak so the chick could get up and into the food bowl - incredible to see. Soon after the black one apeared again, with the other light one right behind. Then there was a long gap (seemed like forever, but probably only 5 mins) where I feared that perhaps one didin't make it through the night, but no, Di actually ferreted about beneath herself and got it to come out, and here they all are:-

 

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Mum is still sitting tight on the remaining four eggs, which is good, so tonight we'll swing into action with the final part of the plan and slip the four remaining chicks under her, removing the eggs at the same time.

 

The real pain is I've got to be up and off to work early tomorrow, so I won't see the final integration of all eight until the end of the week :wall:. OH is under strict instructions to photograph absolutely anything that moves each day!!

 

Andrew

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atsw Chatty Chicken

atsw

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..... and somewhat ahead of the planned schedule (what a weekend this has been!), all eight chicks are now happily with their adopted mother.

 

Di was so taken with the first four chicks that arrived from underneath her this morning, she obviously forgot she had not had a poo for 3 days :vom:. Suffice to say, with all the excitement of keeping her eye on four chicks and sitting on four eggs, getting up to go and poo outside slipped her mind. Oh dear, not pleasant :shameonu:.

 

So, OH and I swung into clean-up mode, and as this involved removing Di, the chicks and the eggs from the nest (so we could clean up all the mess), when we put everything back we inserted the four remaining chicks instead of eggs :shh:. I think it's fair to say she did look a tad confused for a while :lol:. However, we've been sat with them all for the last 40 mins, and there's been no problem. In fact, some of the chicks are being quite rough with poor Di, pecking at her wattles and her eye lid, and she does not seem to mind one bit :angel:.

 

So, here's the pictures 8) .

 

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The little black chick is by far and away the boldest. One of the lighter chicks has also ventured right out of the broody box and all the way around the outside, before coming back in!

 

Andrew

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atsw Chatty Chicken

atsw

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As my kids would say "please may you put some more pictures on the thread" and update us with how these little tykes are doing? :D Please?
Don't worry, I will (just try to stop me :lol:). Lots of people have asked to monitor their progress, so I've created a little slideshow, which you can access from here (the link is also available from my signature). As the weeks and months go by I'll add more pictures to the slideshow.

 

I'm working away from home this week so won't be able to update any of the pictures until next weekend :( , but reports from back home say that they are all doing really well and seem to be coping with the hot weather :D.

 

Andrew

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atsw Chatty Chicken

atsw

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OH reports we've 'lost' one chick, so we're down to 7 chicks :(. She's not quite sure how it got 'lost' or where it's gone. There's no body, no sign of an attack, it has simply vanished. It's very odd.

 

When she went up this morning she found one of the remaining seven chicks had (somehow, no idea how) managed to get over/through the divider in the WIR and was in with the other two girls :shock:. The chick was tweeting very loudly and Di was getting a little upset on the other side of the fence. Luckily the othe two girls didn't seem at all fussed and weren't attacking the chick or showing any signs of aggression towards it. OH popped it back over the divider and all is now well again.

 

Based on this observation I have to assume that No. 8 did the same thing, and didn't get a warm welcome from Anna and Fifi. However, I'm surprised there's no 'remains' anywhere.

 

I'll be back at home tomorrow afternoon, so I'll see if I can work out how the little terrors are getting out of their enclosure. In the mean time, OH is doing more regular visits!

 

Don't worry teri, the black one is still alive and well :D.

 

Andrew

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atsw Chatty Chicken

atsw

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I'm home (and boy is it hot in Oxfordshire!). Anyway, the chicks look to be doing just fine, so I've taken some more pictures for you all 8). They will be a week old tomorrow.

 

The gang together

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Hitching a ride (this one loves to jump up on anything).

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Mum teaching feeding

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Born showoff!

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I'll update the chick slideshow (see signature) shortly.

 

Andrew

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