Well one of the little Cochin chicks wasn't looking too well Monday morning.
When we went down to check the chicks and turn off the light before bed, he was huddling under the other chickens and not interested in the food. In the morning he was even less happy looking.
In hindsight, I guess I should have put a light on them. But in self-defense, when we got them, they were living outside in a couple elevated coops, so I thought they were "hardened off" enough not to need a warming light. But that may not have taken into account the body warmth generated by 20 or so little bodies versus that from 5 bodies.
When my husband came home from work, the little guy was dead.
When I emailed the breeder, she offered a replacement. Very fair of her, I must say. Believe she has a 24- or 48-hour live guarantee policy. As I said, in hindsight, maybe I should have put a warming light on them during the transition, or maybe that wouldn't make a difference. Second guessing doesn't change things though.
Since the breeder was expecting some more Buff Orpingtons and Black Copper Marans to be available in a couple weeks, I postponed picking up the replacement until the next group were available. I still wanted my 3x3 flock.
Put like that, "pick up the replacement," sounds rather callous when talking about a living animal. Guess that seems to devalue the life of the dead chick a bit. However, it is what it is (an overused, but true, expression).
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