(no subject)
Chick update:
So yes, the little black runty chick died today. It was fine in the morning, and then I caught all the chicks and put them in their little outdoor cages at noon so that mom and I could go eat lunch. An hour later, my mom went to check on them, and the runty one had died. =(
We tried everything we could to make the runty one better in the days beforehand. It was always chirping to complain about the cold, and squeezing its body into the other chicks for warmth. So my mom tried sewing a little sweater for it out of my old sock, but it shook its little wings free.
Now another little yellow one isn't looking too good. It's not eating or drinking, and when I pick it up it doesn't protest or move its little legs the way the healthy ones do. It doesn't even chirp properly to complain, the chirps are a little hoarse. This one used to get pasty butt a lot, so my mom gave it warm baths every day to clean its butt up. And at first we thought it would get healthy because it was getting bigger and fatter... but now it doesn't look so good. My mom has isolated it from the other chicks, because she doesn't want it to spread sickness if its sick, and she also doesn't want the other big chicks to crush it, since it's not moving very well. But little chicks hate being alone, and I think this little chick might be more likely to die because its away from its friends. =(
Happier news:
One of the big chicks, which we call Michael (even though it might be female...) has learned to run towards my flyswatter. Since we let the chicks play outside and they poop all over the place, a lot of flies come over. I swat them, and now Michael comes running every time it hears the swat sound. Then it follows my fly swatter everywhere until I point out where the dead fly is, or it eats the dead fly off the swatter. It's quite cute. Unfortunately, the other chicks have not learned this trick, so... all the flies are going to Michael. Michael gets very excited now at even the sight of the flyswatter. It's really fun to tease it with the flyswatter, see it following my swatter everywhere with its little neck bobbing this way and that when I change direction. If I tease it with the swatter a little bit above its head, it starts to hop. Hehe.
Another chick we got is sooo cute when it sleeps. Like a sleepy puppy. Sigh. So adorable.
So yes, the little black runty chick died today. It was fine in the morning, and then I caught all the chicks and put them in their little outdoor cages at noon so that mom and I could go eat lunch. An hour later, my mom went to check on them, and the runty one had died. =(
We tried everything we could to make the runty one better in the days beforehand. It was always chirping to complain about the cold, and squeezing its body into the other chicks for warmth. So my mom tried sewing a little sweater for it out of my old sock, but it shook its little wings free.
Now another little yellow one isn't looking too good. It's not eating or drinking, and when I pick it up it doesn't protest or move its little legs the way the healthy ones do. It doesn't even chirp properly to complain, the chirps are a little hoarse. This one used to get pasty butt a lot, so my mom gave it warm baths every day to clean its butt up. And at first we thought it would get healthy because it was getting bigger and fatter... but now it doesn't look so good. My mom has isolated it from the other chicks, because she doesn't want it to spread sickness if its sick, and she also doesn't want the other big chicks to crush it, since it's not moving very well. But little chicks hate being alone, and I think this little chick might be more likely to die because its away from its friends. =(
Happier news:
One of the big chicks, which we call Michael (even though it might be female...) has learned to run towards my flyswatter. Since we let the chicks play outside and they poop all over the place, a lot of flies come over. I swat them, and now Michael comes running every time it hears the swat sound. Then it follows my fly swatter everywhere until I point out where the dead fly is, or it eats the dead fly off the swatter. It's quite cute. Unfortunately, the other chicks have not learned this trick, so... all the flies are going to Michael. Michael gets very excited now at even the sight of the flyswatter. It's really fun to tease it with the flyswatter, see it following my swatter everywhere with its little neck bobbing this way and that when I change direction. If I tease it with the swatter a little bit above its head, it starts to hop. Hehe.
Another chick we got is sooo cute when it sleeps. Like a sleepy puppy. Sigh. So adorable.