Phoenix Baby is On the Move...

Everybody loves a little ball of fuzz.  This is the little one hatched by the Phoenix mama in the big pen. At first, she was being really attentive and tremendously protective of her little one.  We occasionally caught her trying to divide her time between her little chick and the eggs she still had in the straw loft in the top of their hen house.

Then, last night, when we got home from poultry ans dog project meetings, we checked on the doe due to kid, fed everyone, and began our walk around.  When we got to the big pen, the mama and baby weren't in their usual spots, and my flashlight was dying (isn't that how it always works?) so Wyatt began helping me follow a quiet chirp. The mama had gone back up to the loft to sit on her eggs, the baby was alone on the floor in the corner.

I scooped her up and brought her into the house so Wyatt could finish a couple things, and she warmed up in my hands while I finished off in the baby wards.  Some girls just aren't meant to be mamas, the mama in this case really needed a better space for raising chicks, and she isn't tame enough to manage it.

Bailey took the little one out to the the juvenile area, and waited to see if she would do okay with the bantam Cochins and Silkies in there.  The little ones drew her in and the larger ones wrapped her with wings, and she settled in for the night.  We hoped for the best.

This morning, as I was rushing to work through my chores, I saw the baby was having trouble with the wire mesh cage floor. I hadn't thought about that, since she was raised on the dirt floor of the big pen. After checking on Glory, I handed Bailey a towel and the little one, she was going to evaluate her inside for a little bit.  Think good thoughts, every life is precious, we just hope she is able to integrate well into the group, since we won't have any more little babies for almost another month.

Such are the days for us livestock mamas, looking after the little ones and their mamas and friends.  FOr those other livestock mamas out there, and mamas in general, got any stories to share?