Having specifically said we would NOT intervene with any of the eggs when they hatched, we gave in and helped a chick out on Saturday. The hen had left her nest and the egg was getting cold. It was cheaping really loudly and we knew that it wasn’t weak yet. We helped it out and popped it straight back under mum. When we checked later, it had fallen from under her and was really cold. So we bought it in and popped it into an incubator and in no time it had fluffed up.
We didn’t put it back out that night as we were worried that it might get cold again if it didn’t get settled under a broody, and then the next morning we found that it has a spayed leg. Although it isn’t too bad. It was OK sometimes, but not others, but needed treating. So we’ve made a little splint and it seems to be coming along fine. It was in my workshop, but was getting much too much attention from the cats -and Bob – so we have now put it in the shower room, where we can keep the doors shut.
I’m growing cotton! It likes hot and humid atmospheres. We can do the hot, but not the humid, so it will be interesting to see how I get on.