Oh my goodness, do you remember that I said things change fast around here? Well that is absolutely true. I have tried to hatch a post for today about three times but things kept changing. Let's hope this one cracks. =)

*Warning* This post will start serious so we can talk about the sad stuff but then it will end happy.

We have to date lost six of the baby chicks. Ducky is in an infirmary brooder with a splint on her leg because it is hurt, possibly broken. Please keep in mind that this is not the norm. Apparently everyone is suffering big losses with their chicks from this batch but it is not what normally happens.

When you are raising any kind of animal it is almost inevitable that there is going to be some loss. Raising baby chicks, both if you hatch them or you purchase them, is a delicate task especially in the first week or two. This specific shipment of chicks has had something not work in their favor and I am not sure what it is. I know that Ms. Carol is very saddened that the 4H kids are having to experience all of these precious babies not making it and she is working very hard to make sure that replacements are sent.

We are dealing with nature and delicate life so we must look for the lesson in this experience. First of all, all life is delicate. Animals, plants, humans, we all have the same thing in common, we are living creatures that rely on a balance in order to be healthy and thriving. These chicks, like us build an immune system that protects the body from illness and foriegn germs. If that immune system is not strong enough yet or for some reason gets confused bad things can happen. An example of this would be Daniel. Daniel's immune system got confused and thinks that these certain cells in his pancreas are enemy cells. His immune system did it's job and killed these cells but in doing so it causes him to no longer be able to create his own insulin and now he has to provide insulin to his body all of the time and this is called Type 1 diabetes and it is referred to as an auto-immune disease. There are over 80 types of auto-immune diseases and they all work the same way it is just that the immune system targets a different part of the body to attack. In this case the chicks immune system was not developed well enough to handle the stress of whatever has happened to them, possibly in shipping, maybe from before that so they are more likely to not be able to fight off any foriegn germs or illness at all.

Now for the happy part!

The chicks are all on balanced starter feed and they now have water that we have mixed with vitamins and electrolytes. Hopefully this will help them get built back up and give their immune systems a boost so they can thrive and be strong.

Ducky seems to be doing well, the splint has helped ease some of her pain so she can rest and it will help keep her leg in place so it can heal. She ate really good for me last night but we are having to urge her to continue to drink. I think she will be ok it just has taken a lot out of her. The worst thing to happen I think will be that she will continue to think she is the queen and needs special attention even after her leg heals.

This morning I received a phone call to come and pick up more babies! These are to replace the ones that have died, the one we were short in the first place and a couple of just in case because we still had a couple that were not looking so good. So right now we have 28 baby chicks in three seperate brooders. Oh my goodness that is a lot of babies! When I go out to see the grown hens they seem to look so much larger now. It is hard to believe that a year ago they were little fuzz balls like these are.

So now for some pictures!

This is where Ducky spent most of the afternoon yesterday. She wanted to be close to me and would not let me get far from her without peeping like crazy. In nature she would be under her mama's wing so that she would be safe while she heals.

Here is Ducky wearing her splint. It seemed to really help and let her rest. She is so sweet.

She has learned how to hop with it on so she can get places. I rolled a washrag for her to lay next to thinking it would help her not feel alone. But it was not enough.

Sarah gave her a stuffed horse that she looooves to snuggle with. They are now best buddies.

If she gets too warm she still wants the horse close where she can feel it.

Saria is doing really well so far. She is a bit on the small side but she seems healthy and alert.

This little girl is just really pretty. She is so dark you almost can't see her eyes but they are very pretty too.

We had to put a tray under the waterer because they had water everywhere. Now they think it is a place to perch.

The next post will have pictures of the new additions.