A week and a half ago we had gotten a few chicks. DH had wanted some black copper marans for a while and we finally got some. Well, it is still around 15 F outside, so the chicks would not live out there. They were just a few days to a week old and were not feathered out yet. We have two wooden show boxes for poultry with a wire front and everything else is solid. If I turn them on their backs then the wire faces up and they make great brooders for very small amounts of chicks. So, I set them both up, split the chicks to have five in each box, get the straw in the bottom, the feeders full of food, and the waterers on the stands. I have them in the house because they wont survive outside. A small number of chicks is ok to be inside, but a large number will make too much dust! So, the chicks are all set up and in their brooders and growing fast and feathering out well. Now, some chicks are more inquisitive then others. Some just want to run and others like to see what is going on and those are always the first to say hi and see what you have. Well, I know that in every breed there are different personalities. So I should not have been surprised when I found that one little chick loved to see what was going on in the house. It would get on top of the waterer and stick it's head out of the top of the brooder and look around.
This went on for a few days and it just looked around. Watched very intently what was going on. Now, I have a dog in the house. The chick could clearly see the dog. If someone walked by the brooder it would get down and act as if nothing was happening. If the dog went to investigate it would jump down in a game of you cant catch me. I was finding it funny that this little one was so intent on seeing the world.
Well, I was sitting in the living room and I heard some flapping. I look up and that little chick is on top of the waterer again. I smile and watch it for a moment and then as I start to turn I notice it is jumping. I knew that if it's wings were open there is no way it could get through the wire. So I don't think much of it, but I watch to see what it is doing. Then I notice, it is jump and grabbing the wire with it's beak. At this point I start laughing and wondering if this is a chick or a parrot! So, the head, neck, and part of the chest is above the wire, the chick's legs are stretched straight out to make it as tall as possible. Then his head disappears for a split second and then up it comes. It gets all the way to it's stomach and then falls back in as it's tail caught the back of the wire. So, I watch longer just to see what it does. It trys it again. And again. And again, but this time, it grabs the wire in front of it as it jumps and pulls its self up onto the top of the wire. It's tiny chick feet grasping this thin wire trying to keep it's self up right and flapping its wings in an effort to not fall. So, now this tricky little chicky have figured out how to get out of the brooder.
Wonderful. Now I have a new escape artist. So, now I cover that part of the wire so that the chick cant get out while on the waterer.
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