Saturday, December 11, 2010

Baby Chicks


How time passes us by….I was just looking at the date of my last post, and thought has it really been a whole month nearly!? We’ve been busy, well not as busy around the house as we’d like. We took a week and headed out of town for Thanksgiving and are about to head out of town again for Christmas. Our Christmas trip should prove interesting…not only are we traveling with a dog and 2 children but now 9 chicks, yes chicks. No babysitters available, so they are coming with us! 

What an adventure these chicks have already been…

The trip to get them- driving an hour and a half, this lady had chickens galore, chicks galore, even peacocks and other types of exotic birds, a horse, a dog, a cat; it was a zoo to say the least. Picked out ten 2 day old chicks and brought them home…another hour and a half drive of peeping…

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Over that weekend, one chick appeared sick- stumbling, not eating or drinking as well as the others, diarrhea, and the other chicks started picking on him. After reading vet websites and chicken forums, we separated him, but he passed a day later. In researching we found a common bacterial disease chicks can get, so we got meds, a new cage and the chicks appear to be doing good…here’s crossing our fingers we don’t lose any more.

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We’ve had chicks before and never had sickness problems, so I have to wonder if they were sick when we got them, but as long as they are on their way to recovery now, I’m happy. Yes, our dog LOVES the chicks and is so good with them- he just watches quietly!

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After our trip for Christmas we plan on getting to build a coop right away, so that will be the next immediate project to take care of.