Out of 13 beautiful chickens that hatched, 11 remain. 2 died. One of them drowned and the other was stepped on by its father, the rooster.
Both of them were black, the only 2 black chickens in the whole brood. I am so disappointed. The first poor little thing was desperate for water and jumped up into the water container had inadvertantly been put in the cage, and drowned, unable to get out.
The mother hen was standing next to him when I checked in to see the chickens, late afternoon.
The other little black chicken was the victim of the hens sleeping habits. They all sleep in the same roosting box even though they have roosts and plenty of other boxes. All 5 hens, 11 chicks, 1 rooster in the one roosting box, all on top of each other. Unfortunately, the rooster stood on the small black chicken and severed its head!!
The very next day, James the chicken expert, has re-housed all the hens and the rooster into the newly wired downstairs cage while the chicks and their mums stay upstairs. A new water container - chick friendly was also purchased so that the 11 baby chicks are safe.
Comments