Chickens . . . the continuation . . .

Posted by Kerry through Flickr

Rescued baby chicken
Originally uploaded by rikkis_refuge.

A few posts back we began telling you about our "Great Chicken Rescue of the Summer of '06". With the baby chickens in various degrees of stress, we were about to lose the battle. And if these little babies got wet, they would die. The emergency solution would be to shut down one room of the "9th Life Retirement, Assisted Living and Psychiatric Center", and declare it as the baby chicken day care area. Chickens, or whatever they are. They all look alike when they are little. Basil is hoping we end up with 300 and some odd ostriches. I am not!

We grabbed six huge dog carriers, and began to load the babies up. We were working as fast as we could, and covered them with a tarp as a temporary measure. It would not do to put baby birds into the same room as cats in the "9th Life Retirement, Assisted Living and Psychiatric Center". The cats had to be removed from one room first. The room selected, for ease of keeping cats out, was the room where Clementine, Witchy Poo, and Shyla hang out. Three of the most dangerous psycho cats. They were not pleased and were quick to use their claws to let us know it. Cleaning the human blood off the floor only delayed moving the baby birds in a little bit longer.

By the time we began carrying in the crates of baby birds it was pouring and the wind was blowing hard, with some gusts blowing into the crates. As soon as we had the birds inside, we had to dry anyone who was wet, and warm them up with the hair dryer. By 9 p.m. that night we had all the baby birds stable. And then we could get back to work finishing our regular jobs.

Most of the baby birds continued to grow rapidly. The few who didn't, were set aside in what came to be known as the "LD Chicken Section". Half a dozen still reside there today. Hopefully we will be able to mainstream them soon. The rest of the babies have a small enclosure in one of the day runs behind the "9th Life Retirement, Assisted Living and Psychiatric Center".

Rose, Spoke Chicken for the Head Injured, has always wanted to be a mother, or so she thought. She loves to sit on her eggs, and keeps checking them to see if they hatch (a forbidden activity at Rikki's). So we thought perhaps she would make an ideal mother for several hundred little babies! She was horrified, and wanted to go home to Rabbit Rotunda immediately. We are hoping a volunteer mother will step forward soon.