Chicks on Stage

I was thinking about you yesterday.  I was standing in the greenhouse, with my hands in my coat pockets, staring at the baby chicks, like I do, as I pondered two things.  First, what could I take a picture of that would be interesting to the blog, and also, what am I going to do about these meat babies.  

The meat babies are crowded in the brooder now.  Their bodies are big, and their feathers are finally covering their skin.  If they were normal chicks, I would just open the brooder and let them roam the greenhouse at will, because I know they would put themselves back to bed in the brooder at night, and I could shut the lid and they would be safe from predators.  But, these chicks don't seem very mobile, so I'm not sure they would find their way in or out of the brooder.  Maybe they need a ramp...

So, what do I see that might be interesting to someone else, or to Future Rain?  How about the crazy looking interior of the greenhouse!  It doesn't seem that odd to me, but if I look at it through your eyes, I could see how it might be nice to get a little explanation.  The burlap hanging from the roof, for instance.  Why?  Theatrical ambiance?  

Before the days became so cold, the sun would shine down on the baby chicks in the brooder and they would seek shade.  I clipped the burlap in place to shade the baby chicks from the bright hot yellow sun.  It appears that the curtains are always rising.  

These chicks eat a lot.  Which means they poop a lot too.  I collect old hay and straw from the barn in the plastic tub, and add several hand-fulls each day to keep the floor of the brooder dry.  There is about six inches of straw and poo in the bottom of the brooder now.  The chicks are bigger too, so they were hitting their heads on the heat lamp.  Several times I came out to find the bulb knocked loose and the chicks huddled up in the cold.  Since they don't have to be so warm now that they have feathers, I moved the heat lamp so that it rests on the lid of the brooder.  

 MJ, are you squished?  

I fill the black bucket sitting on the ground with water from the hose every other day or so, which allows me to dip fresh water for the meat babies.  This morning, after I refilled the black bucket, I sprayed all the old goat bedding that I spread in the greenhouse with water.  I soaked it good, and mice came running from the piles and darted under the old tomato plants.  I want all that organic matter to start breaking down, so that when I plant in the spring, the soil is nutritious.  If I can figure out how to let those meat babies out into the greenhouse, they can add extra nutrition.  I may have to go out there and ponder that ramp some more...