I'm a Chicken Mother

I will be gathering that many eggs in a few months! (I hope.) That is the cover of a 1948 magazine I found in a box buried in one of our barns upon moving here. It is in perfect condition, whereas other magazines in the same box are damaged. How about that?

We put pebbles in their "drinker" so they won't emmerse their whole head and drown; as chicks sometimes do. Here in the US, it is called a chick "waterer", but I was watching some videos on You Tube of baby chickens, and a Scottish lady called it a chick "drinker" so I thought that was appropriate. One "waters" the garden, the houseplants, or the lawn; To "water" the chicks would imply to some that you take the hose and douse the chicks with water; when in fact they drink of their own free will........ so calling it a drinker makes sense. :)

We tried to start them off eating from a chick feerer with a lid; they didn't quite get that, and only ate when I sprinked the feed out onto the paper so they could peck at it. So I transfered their feed to a small open dish and they loved that, and learned to eat from it right away. And sleep in it. And poop in it. And play in it. One night, one of the yellow chicks cought a small moth that was fluttering around the light in the brooder, and went parading around with it. The others wanted in on the kill, and started a commotion that sent me running to check on them. I though at least one of the cats was threatening them, but instead discovered the moth fight. I was puffed up with pride over my day-old chicks already doing a great job of eating free-range! I only hope that most of them are hens, so I can keep them, and a few lucky roosters. The surplus roosters will be made into chicken and dumplings....... such is the fate of unlucky, annoying roosters on farms. Yum..... chicken and dumplings are delicious, though. Wait a second..... what am I saying?! :)