Late yesterday afternoon I gave broody Delilah a just hatched, still wet chicken to look after. This morning, as planned, and as we've done with good success in the past, I gave her 5 more fluffy 'ready to go' chickens. But when I went to the pen early this morning with the new bugs, the first chicken was gone and there was a very smug looking shingle back lizard in the pen!! I had put a wire cage front in front of her nest box to prevent other hens bothering her while the chicken dried, but it wasnt a tight fit and plainly the lizard got in!! Took him for a long walk, put him over the neighbours fence and sent him on his way with a flea in this ear!!
But the troubles kept going. We brought Delilah up to the house pens, set her up with food, water and a nice safe place to be with her chickens, checked on them an hour later and one chick is stretched out on his back, soaking wet, stone cold and looking for all the world like he's dead. Went to clear the body, and his leg moved!! Dashed inside, straight under warm water to clean him up, and from semi rigid when I first picked him up, he went immediately to limp under the warm water. Dried him off and put him back in the incubator to warm up!! Had to take a second chick back because plainly I had kept it too long and it had lost the instinct to burrow under mother hen, that can only end in tears, so into the brooder he went too!! The wet one is now up and about and eating again, but its pretty clear it doesnt have the nous to be a hen's chicken, so he'll have to be brooder chicken from here on in!! Wish us luck :)
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