Baby Chicks, Dealing withChick Deaths, and Helping Chilled Chicks

We recently got some new chicks and a new chicken coop.  We bought nine which is a few more than what we needed due to the fact that you often loose a few.  Our old chickens are almost 4 years old and are getting to the end of their laying lives.  Surprisingly they are still laying very well.  We have 7 chickens and get 7 eggs a day almost every day (except when they succeed in getting out to hide their eggs).

 

 

We got a mixed bag of hen chicks

 

 

 

This one will either be a white hen or a golden

 

 

And then disaster!  This morning I went out early to check on the chicks and saw immediately that the heat lamp was out!  This was very bad news especially since last night was extremely cold.  I rushed and opened the door and saw the dead chick below.  The heat lamp above had somehow shattered in the night.  We got lucky that it didn't start a fire that could have spread to our house!

 

 

Another one that was under the pile of surviving chicks.  It was most likely crushed to death.

 

 

I immediately brought the survivors in who were severely chilled and put a heater fan above them.  They are doing fine now but it just goes to show you how fast you can loose chicks due to the heat lamp going out.

 

 

Here is Bremmer who thus far has had little exposure to them.  He has been fascinated all morning.  He has been laying next to the box in herding guard dog position.  He won't let the cats get near the chick box.  Samson our golden retriever is totally uninterested.  He came over for an inquisitive sniff and then went and laid down.  He has never had more than a polite interest in our rabbits or chickens.  I just watched Bremmer watch Samson go over and sniff above the chicks and chase him away.  He is a great protective herding dog.

 

 

He did this same thing when my daughter brought home a newborn kitten that had been abandoned on a road. I have never seen anything like it because we have never had a herding dog.  He literally never left the kittens side and protected her from our other dog, and our parents in law dog.  He groomed her and licked her bottom and followed her around the house.

 

 

This morning its a trip to the feed store for a new heat lamp and two new chicks.  The kids are very sad and today we are going to bury their chicks, the thought of just throwing them away shocked them so we have to hold a memorial service.