A True Mama C!

We’ve got chicks everywhere! 6 week olds in the larger brooder, one week olds in the smaller brooder, a baby chick (or possibly two) about ready to hatch in the small coop outside with the silkie/cochins and in one more week or so – more day-old chicks arriving from the hatchery! I’ve gotten quite used to the peeping noises and trills that newborn chicks make and can tell pretty quickly when everyone is happy and well taken care of.

The other evening, however, I came home from work to feed all the dogs and cats in the house and then went down to the big coop to check water and food and collect eggs. Once those tasks were finished, I proceeded back to the house to go down to the basement to check on the two brooder boxes. The month old chicks were chirping loudly; protesting that their waterer was completely empty and they had managed to sling most, if not all, of their chick feed crumbles about the floor of the brooder. The other brooder box, made from a Sterilite large plastic container with the top cut out, was silent and DARK! Oh my gosh! Dark!

Fearing the absolute worse, I walked over to the dark brooder and timidly listened for some sort of sound before I turned on the overhead light, looked inside, and witnessed what I was afraid would be deceased birds. Thankfully, the little ones had followed instinct and huddled closely together to keep warm while the “outage” was happening.

The culprit of the darkness was nothing more than a burned out heat light bulb and thankfully I had spares (a result of an impulse purchase last year). Once the light was restored, the chicks huddled beneath the red glow for a few minutes and then began to wander about their brooder again – kicking bedding up, scratching at feed and doing what happy little chicks do.

I then took care of my “teenager” chicks (the one month olds) and peace was restored amongst the flock again.

It's been an interesting year so far with this year’s additions. First there was bad luck in not having any chicks develop in eggs in the incubator after trying with 3 separate clutches. Then, there was the good luck in getting 6 additional chicks from the box farm store (something I swore I would never do, but had a weak moment this year) and then finding out that my silkie/cochins were being broody for a developing egg (or two). Then, back to bad luck in having a chick that I purchased from the 4H sale die and then back to good luck that the remaining birds are alive, well, and thriving. 

If there is one lesson that I have learned with farming it is that there is always balance in everything and that if you don’t have a steady sense of patience – you’ll never make it. I had allowed myself to fall into a “get it done and get it done now” and that just doesn’t fly on the farm. I’m grateful for that – it’s more of who I am. I'm a happy Mama Clucker when my birds are well cared for and I do allow myself some pride in knowing that they are doing well because I have put the effort in to make sure that they are well fed, cared for and peaceful.