Pee Wee – The littlest chicken

October 8, 2009 by Taylor Studios in General

Fall is the wrong time to be raising baby chicks, but I guess that thought never occurred to my Plymouth Rock hen. Twenty-one days after she started sitting on her clutch of ten eggs we spotted the first of six chicks poking its head out from under her wing. For several days they ate and ran and played. On the fourth day however, I counted seven. Pee Wee was a quarter of the size of his siblings. His tiny little toothpick size legs hardly seemed able to support his body. While the other chicks would run and play keep away with a large worm, Pee Wee would sit next to his mother, basking in the sun dreaming.

One night I went out to check on them and found Pee Wee lying on his side on the cold concrete floor. All of the other chicks were snuggly tucked away under moms’ warm feathers. I picked up his cold stiff little body and brought him into the house to beak the sad news to my wife. To my surprise however, she grabbed a blow dryer and began to warm the little feller up. After ten minutes we saw him lift his wing. After thirty minutes he was able to stand on his own and chirp. The moral of this story is that a little hot air never hurt anyone.

Posted by: Ben