Walking nicely and new arrivals.

We have been busy halter training some of the weanlings.   The oldest four are well on the way to being fully trained and we have been quickly getting 2 ready for delivery tomorrow.    They are only just old enough to go really so have only been training them for a few days.  They are very easy to catch now and although they need more practice have definitely got the idea of walking nicely on a lead rope, even if they get fed up quite quickly.

With days drawing in it is a rush in the afternoon to make sure that the goats get fed and shut in and that any important jobs are finished early as the darkness seems to come in very quickly.

On Wednesday we were going out and I checked on the broody hen just before leaving.   I noticed a broken shell and when I looked closer there was what appeared to be a dead chick in it.  When I picked it up the chick was absolutely cold and there were no signs of life.   I was just about to throw it in the hedge when I noticed that its mouth moved a little.  I thought it was a lost cause but nevertheless took it indoors and plunged it into warm water.  It revived a little and actually pecked at the water as if trying to drink.   I dried it off and put it in the oven at a low temperature!! I held my hand over it to protect it from direct heat (especially as it is a gas oven) and spent about ten minutes with it.  It was definitely alive but I was not sure if it had been starved of oxygen and what its future might be.

Anyway with very little hope I took him back and his mother took him under her wing and I let nature take its course.   The next day I lifted the hen off expecting to find a dead chick but glory glory there were two noisy little yellow chicks.   One was a little less lively and still seemed to stumble around a lot, but by this morning they are both running around, eating, drinking and cheeping their little heads off!!   I am so glad I did not give up on the semi dead one and hope that it will grow into a nice laying hen.