Beware the Child Bearing Bricks
By Bill, posted on 07/22/2004
Went to collect the first-eggs this morning. It was a windy day and the maples in the back wood were shedding their seeds. Whirlygigs we used to call them when I was young. A sudden strong gust sent what must have been thousands of these little helicopters flying. The air above the small pasture was entirely filled with flittering green and brown seeds. I was awestruck at the sight. The chickens seemed simply annoyed.
My 3 year old farm hand was sitting out today's chores. Earlier in the week he had seen me placing some wood in the brooder for the new chicks to use as a perch. So yesterday, as I was filling the feeders, I hear a little voice say "Daddy I give the chicks BIG WOOD" and turn around just in time to see him drop a brick on a group of chicks.
The chicks, who are always up for a new experience and had been gathering under the hovering brick, were understandably put out and had several pile-ups in the mad dash to get to the other side of the brooder. I jump in the brooder to see if any chicks were hurt when I hear, again, "BIG WOOD" and turn to watch another brick softly "plunck" into the bedding. The chicks had learned their lesson this time.
At this point ordering a cease and desist on the flying masonry took priority over damaged chicks so I jump out just in time before he could reload. I lock us both in the barn (the bricks being just outside the door) and then myself in the stall with the brooder and return my attention to the chicks. One had a pronounced limp and a dragging wing so I figured something had broken.
At this point I see two little blue eyes peeking through the stall and a little voice say "I was helpin' you Daddy."
By the end of the day I couldn't find any limping chicks so I figure she wasn't hurt that bad.
Animals have a way of surviving what you're sure is mortal and kicking it when you're sure it's trivial. One day I look in the brooder and saw two pullets kissing--French style (do they still call it that?). I wanted to avert my eyes and let them have their moment but they didn't seem to be enjoying themselves. I got closer and they didn't move away from each other. I tapped one on the head. Nope. Still locked in their elicit kiss. Well enough was enough and none of this business in my brooder so I started to pull them apart to find they were connected by a piece of string.
A chicken will try to eat almost anything--especially young ones. My shoelaces, threads on my clothes and, oh yes, leg hair have proved to be endlessly fascinating for our pullets. So I figure two pullets found a string, just had to taste it and there they were. Inosculated.
I managed to get several inches of string out of each chicken, but that was it. The string wasn't budging and I was pulling pretty hard.
I had two chickens, looking at each other, with a foot long loop of string stretched between them. If I could only get another chicken to perch on the string I'm sure I could've sold tickets.
Plumb out of ideas, I grab a set of snips and cut the string as close to each beak as I can get. They looked at me, somewhat imploringly, as if to say "Is that the best you can do?"
I figured at least one of them was a goner. String and intestine is generally a very bad mix but they never looked back and were just fine.
On the darker side one of the most common causes of hen fatality is "egg binding." If an egg is too large or gets stuck for any reason it will be fatal after a day or so. We've lost two hens this way so far.
You can hide the bricks, pick up loose pieces of string, but sometimes there's just nothing you can do.
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