More new arrivals - The Accidental Smallholder

Posted: Tuesday 22 May, 2007

by Rosemary at 10:11pm in Poultry 2 comments Comments closed

We had more new arrivals last night in the shape of four Light Sussex chicks. When I went to bed last night, they were all pipped - had been since lunchtime. I confess I was dying to "help" them, but they weren't actually due until today, so I took myself off to bed, woke at 4am (labour pains, I think) and all four were out and in the incubator.

They were duly transferred to the brooder before I went to work and, so far, all look fine and are eating and drinking. One looked a bit poor this morning but I think it might have been the last to hatch. It looks fine now - at least I can't pick it out from the others!

There's one egg left in the incubator - there seemed to be a live chick in it on Saturday, when we candled it, so I'll give it a couple of days befroe I turn the incubator off.

The older three are WILD! How do you get them tame? Catching them to bring them in at night is an extremely anxious time! One escaped tonight - fortunately, it headed back to the other two, who were in the box. I could see Cassius sitting on the path, sizing them up.

They seem to be quite well feathered, so if the weather stays fine, they should be out in a couple of weeks. Now that they have got the idea of going up the ladder when the weather is bad, they seem to be well on the way. They're dirty little stopouts, though. They were still bobbing about at 9pm tonight, long after the hens had gone to bed. I thought it would be easier to catch them when they went to roost (as I did last night) but tonight they seemed to be up for a late one.

It's only seeing these wee ones, that I realise how much the cheeps have grown. The new ones are sound asleep. They're in the study, because we're having the spare room painted, so I can keep an eye on them. Do you ever get over the "cute" effect? I think not!