They peeped all the way home, in their tiny box on the front seat of the car. They settled into their new cardboard box nursery, where they soon were tuckered out and fell asleep. That was the last time they were quiet in the daytime.
Betty never got broody, so it was up to me to raise some more chicks while the weather was still hot. Chicks are a good entertainment investment, changing daily as they grow to big hens. One morning, Buffy caught a moth. It was good for an impromptu game, with each chick snatching it from the other until it was finally gobbled up.
Every few hours, their water needed to be changed because they scratched pine shavings into it.The new heat lamp wasn't needed for the first nights because we were having an awful heat wave. The babies were safe from the cats and raccoons in the workshop at night. In the daytime, they went out for fresh air in the shade, with a secure old fan screen on the top of the box.
The chicks, Babs, Buffy and Beatrice, regard me with fear, despite all I've done to make them happy. Getting into the cage to collect them for the night is lots of fun. I found that having the Pet Taxi on end was much better for containing them until they could all be rounded up. Okay, I only found that out after they kept popping back out the door. It did make me laugh. They are the only hysterical critters on the place, resisting my soothing efforts to tame them down.
They are still fascinating, learning new things daily. There are lots of young dandelion greens in the cage that they finally learned how to eat. I was digging the soil nearby, which reminded me of when my own babies were small. I took them out in their baby seats to watch me work in the garden. Isabelle and Lissa, who have March birthdays, enjoy gardening, but Chris, who was born on Halloween, too late for gardening, does not.
Maybe these chicks will turn out to be great garden weeders. Probably not.
