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.

Day One Was Happy and Sad

The kids got off the bus yesterday at a full run to see the newest members of our family. These babies are so very sweet and it was hard to remember that our last flock had one time been this small. These girls may be small but they have energy and attitude. The thing to remember is that they are still so fragile, this first week is critical not only for their survival but for their future well being. More on that later, first let's look at who the kids chose to be their loves.

Sarah has had the nickname of Ducky since before she was born. So when we saw this little girl who has a striped face and somewhat resembles a duck's coloring (at least in the face), then that was the one for her. Meet Ducky.

Ms. Carol was right on her choice for Daniel, he loved the little red haired girl. Since she resembles Zelda he thought he should keep with the theme and named this one Saria.

Unfortunately we lost two more girls yesterday and one was the chick that Taylor had picked out to be hers. These girls are so small and get stressed by the trip, the new environment, the vaccination they receive before leaving the hatchery, among other things. It is vital in those first couple of days to make sure they are eating, drinking, staying so very warm and are out of any drafts. Unfortunately there was a run on chicken feed in this last week. There was no starter feed to be found in the three towns we checked. So until we could get some we made a makeshift starter for them, we also provided them with sugar water to give them a boost. Maybe it just was not enough or maybe these girls were just too weak and stressed to survive.

Today I plan on giving them some egg yolk from some hard boiled eggs, this should help the ones that need a little extra. I know that sounds weird, feeding chicks eggs but if you think about it the egg yolk is a chicks first food. Eggs are high in protein and good things that they need to grow. We must be careful not to spoil them to the treat because what they need most is the starter feed because it is balanced for them, but right now we need all the help we can get so a treat of egg yolk is definitely in order.

Speaking of eggs. Did you know that baby chicks have a tooth? That's right, they have what is called an egg tooth. It grows on the end of their beak and it is what they use to break through the shell when they are hatching. It usually falls off after about a week or so but here is a picture that shows one of the girl's egg tooth as she was raising her head to swallow the water. See the yellow dot on the end of her beak?

More updates to come, maybe today will be a healthy day for all the girls.

Flock #2 Is In The House! (Sort of)

Today was the arrival of the new chicks. In case you weren't with us last year here is the skinny on what is going on. Daniel is participating in the 4H Chick Chain Project. He receives 25 Black Sex-Link chicks, all female, to raise as laying hens. In the Fall he will take the 5 best hens to the Poultry Show and allow them to be judged. After the Poultry Show he can make the decision to auction off his hens or keep them. If choosing to keep the hens the participants can now make extra money by selling the wonderful farm fresh eggs that the hens are laying every day or since these are dual purpose birds they can also be used for meat.

Last year when we started this project for the first time we had decided as a family to really support Daniel with the chicks because he is on the Autism Spectrum and we were not sure how much he could handle on his own. We definitely found some sensory issues that got in the way and in the whole of the situation he did really need our help. However in the process of raising the flock of chicks we realized that even without Autism it would have been a good decision to do this as a family. The flock became a part of our family almost from the start. We have a few hens that have names because the kids chose them for their very own, these hens have immunity for any future plans of becoming dinner. Our main girl is Zelda, she is Daniel's hen. Zelda is almost completely red where the other girls are mostly black. The exception to this is Sarah's hen Fuzzy who is also red but was kind of the runt of the group. Daniel chose Zelda from day one because he said she was different like him. She, like him, is beautiful, healthy and in control. I guess another hen I should mention is Turkey Girl, she is the tattle tail of the flock. She will throw the others under the bus in a heart beat if it is going to score her points. She complains about everything and she does not understand the word HUSH. She follows me every step I take and she makes me laugh.

Out of the 25 we started with last year, we have 18 left. One died after one day because of Pasty Butt which can be caused by the stress of the travel from the hatchery to us. We washed their bottoms religiously but unfortunately for her it just wasn't enough. Then at about 24 weeks we lost 5 birds. We were not practicing bio-security well enough and the kids allowed a friend in the coop who also had chickens. Our girls contracted Coccidiosis and it hit them hard. Recently in March we lost one hen for no apparent reason, it just happens.

So here we are starting flock number two.

We went to the Extension office this morning to pick up our babies and found flats of fuzz just peeping for all they were worth.

When we got home I realized as I was putting them into the brooder that there were only 24 girls. Those rascals, they are so hard to count when they keep trying to do Kung Fu on each other's heads.


Ms. Carol had the perfect chick pegged for Daniel. Here she is, now he has not seen her or named her yet but she is a dead ringer for Zelda, so I am seeing sequel on the horizon.

One little girl had to be seperated out. She was very weak and even when she drank it would not stay down. She never made a sound, she was trying but no sound would come out. Her breathing was very difficult, it was like her lungs were not fully formed. Bless her she only lived for a very short time after we got home but she tried.

So here are the 23 in their new digs. It took them a bit to settle in but every one seems to be drinking well, eating well and napping. Ok, napping while no one is jumping on their heads. They seem to be a feisty group and already we have some leaders emerging.

I believe at the end of the week we may be getting replacements for the two so that will bring us back to 25. Stay tuned because they grow fast and things are always changing here on Redbud.

New Chapter

We are very excited about the expected arrival of our new flock of baby chicks tomorrow. We are nesting with anticipation and can't wait to introduce them to the world. We will be journaling the journey with these girls as we did last year. This time around we will be able to add more detail and even journal on a more advanced level. I will also be journaling the adventure of our garden which will be on a much grander scale this year. So beginning tomorrow you will see more timely posts as things will be changing quickly here on Redbud and hopefully the majority of it will be positive and uplifting.

I will continue to add links to the side bar for further education and reading on related topics. I will also offer access to this blog to Daniel's class, like we did last year, so that his classmates can join us in watching the girls grow and change. I hope that anyone who reads this will feel free to leave comments. We would love to hear what you have to say, anything from hello to bits of advice to links to your favorite sites about related topics. I am even working on a special project for the blog that you won't want to miss, so stay tuned for further news. Get ready for lots of pictures to be added as we get in gear as well.

To all of you who enjoy the wonderful eggs our veteran girls offer up each day, I hope you will enjoy seeing how really spoiled these chickens are and have fun getting to know the personalities of all of our ladies.

Ciao for now but we will be back tomorrow with lots of goodies. =)