The circle of life has happened again…one of our chicks disappeared. Sadly, it was one of the two Ameraucanas. These two really stuck together. They were great partners. We kept them separate from the larger chicks until they were old enough to fend for themselves. Chickens are fairly territorial and establish a pretty significant pecking order. These two were at the bottom of the peck list so they just kept to themselves and didn’t really bother the big chicks too much.
This picture above was taken before they joined the others.
Our chicks free range almost every day. And every night they return to their coop to sleep. On the night the little chicken disappeared, the pair had not made it back into the coop. We searched all around for them but didn’t find them. We assumed since they can gain a little more air than the others that they must’ve tucked themselves safely away on a tree branch somewhere. Unfortunately, they must not have been safe enough and one fell prey to a greater force. So sad. The next morning, only one emerged.
Around the other group of chicks, she is treated like the outcast…like the little sister trying desperately to fit in with the teenage sister and her cool friends. It’s difficult to capture in a picture the sadness I feel for her. She lost her partner and now is sort of a loner. As funny as it sounds, I want to pick her up and hug her. I want to scold the big girls for not welcoming her into their clique.
She seems content and is happy to run in their shadows. But we are sad for her loss and just want her to be accepted. She runs along behind the others as if she’s yelling, “Hey guys! Wait for me!!”
Soon she’ll join the others in laying some eggs. Hers should be blue and will again set her apart from the others. Maybe they will envy her and move her up in the ranks. Until then, we will keep hoping for her acceptance into the group so she doesn’t have to play alone.
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