Smooth as silk

Yeah, baby.  I've finally put two and two together.  Yes, I'm a little slow... but we all just are who we are.  Wanna know what I did? It's so simple that I feel stupid to not have thought of it sooner. 

Okay, here it is.  I got smart enough to put broody hens in with my chicks.  Most everyone puts heat lamps on their babies, but that's not much of an option here. 

I've had all these broody hens this summer just sitting around... and now I've put them to work.  100 day-old chicks arrived at the Post Office yesterday.  And they all survived the night with one 2 year old Turken to mother them.  Cool stuff.

Actually, I'm super psyched.  This is a major breakthrough for my early mortality problem.  Of the 50 chicks that came home 11 days ago, I believe I only lost 2.  It was the Turken mothering them too.  She rocks.

Why didn't I think of this sooner?  The 50 chicks that arrived 3 weeks ago did not fare so well.  I think about 20 died, mostly from piling.  It's been a cold summer.  Not quite the coldest I've seen, but probably the wettest.  And I've had fires in the woodstoves probably 80% of the days since the snow left.

I also lost all 8 of the Chanteclers that I "rescued" from the hatchery.  That was the night that it rained longer and harder than I've ever seen it here on the mountain.  They were on the bottom of the pile too.

But now I feel older and wiser... one step at a time, my friends.  I hope my discovery can help some of your chicks survival rates.  I'm so excited that it's done so well for me.