Friday, April 21, 2017

Too Late Smart

We goofed.  We knew we needed to get Mama Duck and her mixed brood out of the chicken house and into a place of their own, but hesitated making the move too soon fearing we'd upset this first time mother enough that she'd stop caring for her hatchlings.

When we shut them up in their little corner of the chicken house last night, she had them all nestled down under her.  We didn't realize until this morning that the little yellow duckling was missing.  Again.  Darned if he didn't (apparently) venture out of the chicken house for the second time yesterday unnoticed by us.  We failed to see his escape.  Upon searching, Papa Pea found his little body under a tree this morning.

Also, one of the two chicks Mama Duck hatched out is completely missing.  We cannot figure out what happened to the yellow chick.  The remaining chick is black and white.  We've been trying to figure it out all day but have come up with no answer as to what could have happened to the yellow chick.

Having gone through this, we decided we had to transfer Mama Duck and her brood to their own safe, secure new home today.


We readied this chicken tractor-type house and caught all the small renegades in the chicken house (including Mama Duck who was not happy being evicted) with the fish net and carried them to their new quarters.


Dumped into the new pen.  "Where are we??"


The new pen is situated so they'll get sunshine as the sun travels across the sky for most of the day.  Two-thirds of the pen is open but screened with hardware cloth (wire) and one-third is closed in with wood for night time warmth or protection from high winds.


We realized it was a bit more of a jump into the enclosed area than they could all manage.  See the little chick determined to make it?  He's definitely more feisty and agile than the ducklings at this point.  Mama Duck is in the enclosed area trying to coax everyone to get up there with her.


We had to provide some "steps" to make it easier until they grow a bit more.  They all can make it up now with the provided boost.

Final count that we hope to raise without further unhappy incident?  One chick and eleven ducklings.

17 comments:

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

Oh darn. Sorry to hear about the little yellow duck. Too rambunctious for his own good, I guess. I love that you gave the remaining ducklings booster steps to get up there! -Jenn

Dawn said...

I hope they all continue to thrive sorry that the little ducking didnt make it

Vera said...

Sending a blessing to all remaining little ones!

Sue said...

So sorry to hear about the duckling. I guess he was too adventurous for his own good. As for the chick, it might have followed his "brother" outside as well.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Oh no. So sorry.

MrsDuncanMahogany said...

Awww poor little guy....

Mama Pea said...

Jenn - About all but five of them could make the big leap, but since Mama seemed to be encouraging them to get up there, we wanted to make sure no one got left on the "lower level" and didn't have her warm body to keep them warm over night.

Mama Pea said...

Dawn - Thanks. We hope we've got things under control now, too.

Mama Pea said...

Thank you, Vera!

Mama Pea said...

Sue - We still can't believe the yellow duckling kept making it all the way out. He had to go up a ramp out of the chicken house, down a ramp into the solarium, then up one more ramp to the outside. And why did he keep leaving his mother and the others??

Mama Pea said...

Thanks, Kristina.

Mama Pea said...

MrsDM - Thank you. I don't know why, but he was much to adventuresome for his own good.

Rain said...

Aw, that's a shame about the little chicks...I'm sorry Mama Pea. :( there's always a rebel in the brood I guess?

Your setup looks really solid though. The chicks are adorable. I hope they all stay healthy and happy!

gld said...

Sorry you lost the baby. They have a nice snug and safe place now. I do enjoy your adventures with your various fowl.

Mama Pea said...

Thanks, Glenda. We've been having terrible weather this week, especially today. But Mama Duck has had her babies out in the more open part of their shelter and they're all running around and seeming to do fine. Boy, having the mama raise them sure is a lot easier (and better for them, too, I believe) than having them in a brooder in the garage!

Tracy said...

Sorry the little one didn't make it. We lost our only gosling :( glad to see the others are ok though and I hope the weather's picked up.

Mama Pea said...

Tracy - Oh, darn. To get only one gosling and then to lose it.

We've still got two geese setting. One is at 35 days yesterday but so far, no hatching. I'm just afraid the weather has been too, too cold. :o(