And I suspect it's a rooster too. :lol: Sure struts around like one! He's a little mutt involving Silkie, Easter Egger, and Rhode Island Red.
Dad mentioned the broody hen was acting a little different right as I was about to head out the door to do my bunny chores. I'm glad I turned around and went to the coop instead!
Right about his due date, this poor babe's egg was smashed. I didn't see evidence of a pip, either. I wasn't expecting a live chick when I snatched up the crushed egg the hen had pushed out, but I pealed away the shell carefully anyway. I didn't notice any rotting stink, so I kept pealing until I could find his head, not feeling too hopeful 'cause there wasn't any bleeding or movement as I tore through the membrane.
Finally I could see the sorry little chick squashed inside. He'd been stepped on, his jaw bent a little to the side, and looked good as dead. He wasn't moving, wasn't breathing. I held him under a bright light that put out very little warmth and gave his chest a few firm taps and SURPRISE he took a breath!
While he'd sat around with his shell smashed, he'd luckily absorbed his yolk. After half an hour of sitting in a container in a bowl of hot water, with warm wet tissue around him, he was kicking and peeping!
I pealed away the rest of the shell and snipped the umbilical part connecting him to it, hoping I wasn't cutting through an intestine or something and afraid he'd disembowel himself if he squirmed too hard. From that point on, he won my heart with his perpetual grumpy glares. I do not blame him. He had a rather unconventional hatch!
I suspected he was dehydrated and weak from bloodloss. It took a couple days for him to find his legs and hold his head steady, but I got him eating a little bit of watery food by coaxing him with mushy drops on my fingernail.
He had one brother hatch and a half-eaten chick appear beside the broody's nest. The rest of the eggs in the nest had failed and rotted, so I'm not sure if it had hatched or been a popped dead egg... Either way, I was nervous about trying to give him back.
But he decided for me. He was too daunted by the fluffy monster scooting towards him. I tried to lock them in together, but he was having none of it. He was scared and cold, so I brought him back inside with his mirror and teddy.
Sadly, the sibling the hen kept had an accident the other day. While it was drowning, he was content to be inside, safe and warm and gulping down mealworms. He is a pig. He may or may not eat mostly mealworms.
__________ Sun Feb 14, 2016 10:20 pm __________
I also took him outside the other day.
He did not aprove.
And my offerings of more mealworms did not appease him.
Another attempt to reunite him with a very upset mama hen today did not go over well. She tried and tried to call him to her and direct him to tasty bugs, but he wouldn't respond whatsoever. She was still the big scary monster moving towards him. It was pretty sad to see a chick that doesn't understand chicken and a hen so desperate to win back her chick.
I would have thought he'd at least look her way at her calls, but he pactically ignored her and just kept his distance. He gravitated towards me and followed MY cues for food and warmth.
In the end, it seemed pretty clear it was the baby who'd rejected the mother. It wasn't how I expected to play out at all. :|
So, I suppose this is my baby. My grumpy antisocial baby.
I'm still mulling over some names from the Ga'Hoole books.
Dad mentioned the broody hen was acting a little different right as I was about to head out the door to do my bunny chores. I'm glad I turned around and went to the coop instead!
Right about his due date, this poor babe's egg was smashed. I didn't see evidence of a pip, either. I wasn't expecting a live chick when I snatched up the crushed egg the hen had pushed out, but I pealed away the shell carefully anyway. I didn't notice any rotting stink, so I kept pealing until I could find his head, not feeling too hopeful 'cause there wasn't any bleeding or movement as I tore through the membrane.
Finally I could see the sorry little chick squashed inside. He'd been stepped on, his jaw bent a little to the side, and looked good as dead. He wasn't moving, wasn't breathing. I held him under a bright light that put out very little warmth and gave his chest a few firm taps and SURPRISE he took a breath!
While he'd sat around with his shell smashed, he'd luckily absorbed his yolk. After half an hour of sitting in a container in a bowl of hot water, with warm wet tissue around him, he was kicking and peeping!
I pealed away the rest of the shell and snipped the umbilical part connecting him to it, hoping I wasn't cutting through an intestine or something and afraid he'd disembowel himself if he squirmed too hard. From that point on, he won my heart with his perpetual grumpy glares. I do not blame him. He had a rather unconventional hatch!
I suspected he was dehydrated and weak from bloodloss. It took a couple days for him to find his legs and hold his head steady, but I got him eating a little bit of watery food by coaxing him with mushy drops on my fingernail.
He had one brother hatch and a half-eaten chick appear beside the broody's nest. The rest of the eggs in the nest had failed and rotted, so I'm not sure if it had hatched or been a popped dead egg... Either way, I was nervous about trying to give him back.
But he decided for me. He was too daunted by the fluffy monster scooting towards him. I tried to lock them in together, but he was having none of it. He was scared and cold, so I brought him back inside with his mirror and teddy.
Sadly, the sibling the hen kept had an accident the other day. While it was drowning, he was content to be inside, safe and warm and gulping down mealworms. He is a pig. He may or may not eat mostly mealworms.
__________ Sun Feb 14, 2016 10:20 pm __________
I also took him outside the other day.
He did not aprove.
And my offerings of more mealworms did not appease him.
Another attempt to reunite him with a very upset mama hen today did not go over well. She tried and tried to call him to her and direct him to tasty bugs, but he wouldn't respond whatsoever. She was still the big scary monster moving towards him. It was pretty sad to see a chick that doesn't understand chicken and a hen so desperate to win back her chick.
I would have thought he'd at least look her way at her calls, but he pactically ignored her and just kept his distance. He gravitated towards me and followed MY cues for food and warmth.
In the end, it seemed pretty clear it was the baby who'd rejected the mother. It wasn't how I expected to play out at all. :|
So, I suppose this is my baby. My grumpy antisocial baby.
I'm still mulling over some names from the Ga'Hoole books.
