Four chicks survived and are doing very well.  They are hopefully going to market to be sold next week with the new hatch. The poor chick with the leg that didn’t bend, died during the night after putting it in the brooder. The one with the spraddle leg got better each day, until three days ago. I don’t know why, but suddenly its leg became severely out of line and that whole side of its body tilted down. I knew it wouldn’t be viable, even if it made it to a mature chicken, so I put it to sleep. I recently read on the Backyard Chicken forum that a good way to do it is with ether. It was suggested that starter fluid be sprayed on a rag, the chick wrapped in something and both chick and rag put into a box of some sort and closed. I use an old plastic school pencil box. The ether in the starter fluid “puts it to sleep” aka “kills it”. To my relief, it worked almost instantly. It was an excellent solution for someone who is squeamish about killing cute little baby things. I did it very bravely and matter-of-factly, but I must admit, when I took it out to dispose of it, I just had to check to make sure it was dead…I didn’t like the thought of throwing it still alive into the trash…and I cried. Just a bit.

The four that are healthy are growing new feathers every day. I think I have one rooster and three hens. The rooster and one hen are darker colored with a good bit of brown on their wings, while the other two are considerably lighter. Maybe I’ll keep one of each because I am curious to see what they look like as a mature chickens.

The batch I have in the incubator are doing super well. I am very pleased that the temperature has stayed almost perfectly steady at 99.5 degrees (only varying .5 degrees up an down a couple of times) and I have only culled one egg so far. I candled a good many tonight and they are growing and jumping around. They are due to hatch next Friday, and then a few days later, I will hopefully sell them at the flea market.

The two hens are still setting,  but for reasons we can’t figure, none have hatched. I have candled them and many are at different stages of development. It seems the other hens have been laying in those boxes with the hens still setting in them. I have some work to do to sort out the situation before some eggs go bad under them.

One of my Black Star hens died yesterday. I have no idea what happened, but the others were picking on her the day before. I am not sure if she was sick to begin with, or if they just jumped on her. I am watching closely to see if any others show signs of being sick. I am putting some Terrimycin in their water for a few days as an added measure.