Goldie’s trio of chicks is happy and healthy, and a week old today. It’s been so interesting watching her raise these little ones: she showed them where to eat and drink, patiently laying by the food dish and clucking to them; she led them in scratching around in the shavings in the brooder (we took pity on them after watching their determined, but fruitless, efforts for a while and scattered some dry chick food around so they could actually “find” something – they have free access to mash); and provided a safe place for the chicks to hide and sleep. She talks to them constantly, with reassuring, encouraging, or warning clucks. There’s a lot of conversation going on in the brooder!
One of the really cute things we’ve seen is how she lets the little ones climb up on her, like she’s a jungle gym. They even do it when she’s standing up. They also nestle into her feathers with just their tiny heads peeking out.
One of the less cute things: monster broody poop. It’s the size of a pile of small dog poop. Seriously. We think she may not be going as often as she did before she went broody, but when she does, it’s enormous. We just scoop it out of the wood shavings with a kitty litter scoop, so it’s actually easier to manage than regular chicken poop. We hope, for her sake, she goes back to her normal schedule, though.