May was a whirlwind month for me…two horse shows, tons of family and friends in town to help us celebrate my daughter’s graduation from high school, dinner parties and arriving this week, new little chicks for “Anna”.
I decided that Anna needed babies. “Marge”, “Puck”, and “Pot Pie”, the Silver Wyandotte hens have been picking Anna’s head feathers off and leaving her a bloody mess. I isolated her in an adjacent area of the pen so she could still see the other hens, but I feel bad for her. Even though she looks tremendously better and her head feathers are growing back, she is all alone. So I ordered her three white crested “blue” Polish chicks that are due to arrive one day this week. I’ve got a new separate coop and run all set up for them.
According to folks who know, it is best to put the chicks in an isolation container with a heat lamp for a day or so next to Anna so she can hear them peeping. Then, in the dark of night, slip them under her so when she wakes up in the morning she thinks she hatched her eggs! I’m thinking Anna probably can’t count, but just to make sure there is no opportunity for argument, I’ve put three “fake” eggs into her nest box that will remain there until the chicks take their place.
My letter carrier has been alerted and is on the look out! I think he’s as excited as I am for their arrival!
And a funny thing happened over the weekend. While I was in Kentucky with my daughter and our horses, my neighbor drilled a hole in my wooden fence about 4 or 5 inches in diameter, about 4 feet off the ground, so that he (and his grandkids) could spy on the chickens! I wish he had asked first, but I’m not one to get myself too worked up about my neighbor enjoying my chickens! I ran into him in the grocery this morning and he fessed up…to “borrowing” three eggs, too! I’m thrilled!
I’m thinking about having a little reception for the new baby girls next week. Maybe the rest of the neighbors would enjoy a peek at the little peeps!
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