Wednesday, June 27, 2012


This morning when I got to the barn the alpacas were all gathered around their hay pool   ( I put hay in a baby swimming pool,  alpacas are grazers,  eating grass from the ground,  so hay needs to be kept low so they are in the natural feeding position and don’t choke).

  No one was eating,  then I herd faint chirping coming from the hay.  And one of the chickens was frantically running around the pool.    Digging around I found one little chick all fluffy and yellow with a brown strip down his back and little black mask around his eyes.   I rescued him,  putting him in my pocket, but I hear more chirping from the hay.   A little more digging and I find a broken shell and a very wet,  newly hatched chick struggling to right himself.     I think the egg has rolled from the rafters and fallen in the hay,  I don’t think it was time for Hobbles to hatch yet.

 Both chicks moved into the kitchen in the hamster cage with a heat lamp,  Hubert,  the first chick I found is doing great,  Hobbles,  the second chick can not support his weight with his legs,  they just slid out from under him like he is doing the splits.   I tried tying a piece of yarn around his legs to help him keep them under himself but then he fell on his face.  This is called hobbling,  and is done with many shapes and sizes of live stock if they are weak at birth.   Hubert knows he is weak and picks on him.  The cats love to sit on top of the cage and dream of chicken salad for lunch.  Hubert is very noisy,  he does not like cracked corn,  he likes Doritos.   Hobbles likes cheerios.
   More on Hubert and hobbles to come…. 

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