Week 2 of Chicks 2010 was filled with drama, rejection, and healing.
Day 3, the day after my last post, Broody rejected some of the wee chicks, and they died in the cold night. This was a bit shocking for us, as last year's adoption of chicks (and 3 turkeys) worked quite well.
Regrouping, we purchased more chicks on Friday, introducing them to Broody very carefully that evening. While she initially nipped the small chicks that were peeping (since the week-old chicks had stopped such infantile behavior after day 3), it was dark, so she calmed quickly. The next morning, however, we sufficiently disturbed Broody mom (while checking on the smallest additions) that she began noticing and again nipping the day-old chicks.
We made an emergency evac. of all day-old chicks, placing them in a warm alternate location (aka, the holding cell). One of the chicks couldn't use her foot after getting pecked by Broody, so we gave her a smaller recovery space (and a playmate) right next to the rest of the chicks -- we're happy to report that she's almost healed. Everyone has been warm and growing nicely, so we'll attempt to reintroduce them to Broody mom at the end of the week.
