I'd put the outside Hen on at lunchtime, in case the weather warmed up enough to get the chicks out for a bit. It was probably warm enough to get them out for an hour.
I opened the door to the brooder, and started to catch the chicks. I catch the big ones first, putting then in a cardboard box to bring outside. I catch the smaller ones in a separate trip.
When I leant down to pick up the first chick I saw, to my horror, a dead chick.
One of our own, home hatched ones. The yellow one, offspring of Nora or Batty.
I suppressed a little shriek.
I carried on collecting the chicks, two trips and they were all outside. I then went to get the body of the poor chick that died. No obvious cause. It was partially under the Hen, partially out; no sign of trauma or attack.
No funny leg positioning or anything.
I've no idea what happened.
Poor little soul.
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| RIP yellow chick (left) |
