Out and about

 

 

 So the chick is getting a bit bigger, and getting a bit bolder. 

We don't yet know if its a him-chick or a her-chick

A surprise

 Hens go broody .  They sit on any eggs they lay or find and then peck at you if you  disturb them . 

So after checking no eggs under one of the broody hens ( weve got 4 broody at the moment) I left her to it. 

 So it was a bit of a surprise to come across this . 

As chicks go , this is a very small one  - she clearly secreted a small egg under her . 

 

So it is now in a run with food and water , and we shall see what it  grows into 

More Gallussian resuscitation

 

 

The hen with the chicks has hatched 10 so far. There were 2 eggs remaining. She has got fed up with sitting and has taken her 10 away and left the 2. But one of them was cheeping, so we decided on more resuscitation.  ON Prising the shell away  it started to cheep, so a bit more time in the home-made  chick-warmer ( I cant really call it an incubator!)
An incubator will keep  eggs at 37-39 degrees . We don't have an incubator, so  its a bowl, floating in a sink of hot water. And we cant control the humidity , so its a slightly damp towel.

Of course the reason it may be the last one out is that it is too weak and will not survive.

Gallussian resuscitation

The latin name for the domestic fowl is gallus gallus domesticus

its time to move the mother and the chicks to the outside run. So 7 have hatched. And when we looked ,the last one was half in and half out of its shell. 

What to do ? Put it on the grass and hope the mother would  keep it warm whilst it escaped from the rest of its shell and  then look after it or help it a bit. So we decided to help it a bit. 

In a plastic bowl floating on hot water ( to keep it warm) , gently removing the rest of the shell and then keeping it warm whilst it dried out.

And then successfully resuscitated  it was returned under the hen and , at the last look, was  starting to explore its new home  .

8pm update : 5 ? +1

So its 5 so far.
And 2 cheeping inside their shells.
And this one.
Its got 1/2 out and then got stuck and the membranes dried out and it couldn't break out from the membranes.  So we've helped it along a bit by pulling off some of the membrane, put it back under its mother and we shall see what  happens  overnight and if its alive in the morning