A Reprieve

My dear old mate let the imprisoned chicks and mother hen out of the chalet mobile hen house. Every time we passed them in that small, contained area the babies were hiding under her and she looked miserable. Aside from that there was no direct sunlight in there since the tall trees blocked it. On top of that all of the babies were getting out and frolicking outside of the house through small spaces in the wooden door at the front, which the mother hen couldn’t fit through. So around the same time that I was going to ask him to release them to the wild and free gardens where they could have a life, he was on his way into the house to ask me if I would agree that he could open the door and let them out.

We originally put them in there because we’ve lost so many babies that stay outside with their mothers on the ground somewhere since they can’t roost yet. Some mothers know just what to do and some are unlucky and there are predators lurking around every tree. But there’s another group of 5 babies aside from the ones we just let out and they’ve lived outside the whole time since they hatched and are really cheeky and happy. So although we’re taking a chance we haven’t seen any of the worst animals that can really decimate a family, the ferrets. They usually start showing up in January although for some reason there was only one last year when in prior years John’s trapped 20 in one season. So with fingers crossed we’d hoped that they’d go back into the house to sleep but that didn’t happen. They just probably were so frustrated being pent up in there that they might not ever go back in like previous chook families have done after a substantial term of jail in there. But perhaps John can woo them in with some seeds thrown inside. We can try that tomorrow afternoon and see what happens. But it sure did my heart good to see these little fellows traipsing around shrieking that high chirpy sound as they followed mother into parts unknown. It was thrilling to see even though they really haven’t stayed in there very long at all. To them it probably seemed like a nightmare with all the energy they have so pent up in such a tiny space. But the jury’s out tonight. Here’s hoping we did the right thing and there will still be 10 little chirpers in the morning looking for their breakfast.

Success! Free at last. The following morning she's still spooked when I follow her around trying to catch all the chicks following her that get lost every few minutes and she certainly eludes the camera. What a silly girl she is, but it's understandable. I've got to rebuild the trust and that may take quite a while. But they're all safe and getting into mischief already and digging up my pathway plants. Ten tiny excavators are being trained and imprinted by their mama to find the best worms ever. The background noises shake me out of any complacency. They appear like a steam train tracking behind her while peeping shrilly as they try to catch up. Some do, some don't, all day. So errant babies cry mournfully to find the group. Sometimes they need assistance but usually the mother will take the others to find the one or two that got confused along the way. Happy days for now. Very happy actually.