saving chicks

This is what we saw yesterday afternoon while the chicks were outside, a hawk.

6/14

The chicks are still here, much bigger, their tails and feathers have grown, and we are letting them roam outside with our supervision to keep an eye out for the hawk, cats or other pesky creatures. 6/14

06/03 the chicks get cuter every day...still not keeping them though.

06/03 Michael & Belli spending some time with the chicks

06/01/10 Belli watches them while they spend time outside

This post has nothing to do with crafts, sewing or parties, but I just wanted to share what I did today. For the last couple of months there have been chicken around our property, and I have been feeding them mostly to entertain the kids and because I like the sound they make when they find food...-it brings back memories when I was 9 and had my own chicken-but lately it went from a hen with 6 chicks of which only 1 survived, the others were taken by the hawk -we actually saw it happen- to about 17 of which 4 are roosters, 5 are hens and the rest are small chicks. It has gotten out of control, I don't know who the owners are but I don't think they even know how many they have or where they roam. For the past couple of weeks I have been watching this hen, she had been laying eggs, I just did not know where, and lately I saw her all fluffy all the time, then I didn't see her at all until yesterday when I was planting some flowers by my backdoor. There she was with 6 tiny chicks, all fluffy and barely standing, I feed her some rice and water and then peaked under the steps to see what was going on. There were about 7 more unhatched eggs, of which 1 had already cracked the shell so I left her alone and went on about my business. This morning, after I dropped off the kids to school I went to check on her, and her STILL 6 chicks, I found 3 eggs had cracks on them including the one from last night, the poor chick was barely making a sound, so I decided to help it. Here is the video...

After I got this chick out I took it to the mama but she kept leaving him unattended while she roamed with the other 6 chicks, who are very alert and walking now. While the chick was unattended the ants were getting to him so I decided to rescue him -again- and keep an eye on the other eggs. At about noon I kept hearing little chicks cry so I went to take a peek and found 3 more that had hatched but were cold and full of ants so I rescued them too, the other 3 eggs left were not cracked but I could hear them crying. At about 4 this afternoon I tried giving them back but she won't stay in one spot and they can't walk yet, then when I checked on them again I found cracks on all them but 1 chick was not alive anymore so I decided to assist the other 2 in getting out of the shell. I have 6 chicks total and they are all doing great they are all fluffy now, they will be spending the night inside since they can't stand by themselves yet and I will try to give them back to their mama tomorrow.

Thursday 5/27 a.m. update: This morning, as soon as I woke (6 A.M.)I went to check on the chicks, they were all still alive but 4 of them do not look so good (these are the last four I rescued) so I took them outside and put them in the sunshine. At about 10:30 on the 4th time I checked on them 3 had already died :( and 1 is still alive but he doesn't look good. The other two (including the one in the video)are very alert and chirping a lot! I buried the ones that did not make it I put the 2 in a different container because they might hurt the other one. I will keep checking on the small chick and hopefully he can pull tru. I love animals but this is the reason I do not like to keep any, my kids and I get attached to them and then is hard when something goes bad.

Tuesday 6/01 p.m. update The 3 chicks are still alive and doing well, and Michael, Gabby and Belli have already named them -after themselves, of course!- I on the other hand, do not wish to keep them. They are very cute and all but they are too much for me to handle, so I am looking for a good home for them -let me know if you are interested-