Sorting Out......

 Sorting out a part in the chicken space on Saturday so that Brulee and baby Gaia could get some sunshine and have some earth to scratch around in proved a challenge to begin with as if there was a hole big enough to get through Gaia found it.

Getting her back in thankfully was not difficult, but made what I thought to be a quick task turned out to take hours.

Needing to cover the existing walls made of chicken wire surrounding their night box with an overlay of bird mesh to make sure that Gaia could not get out and the crows could not get in.

Brulee was in absolute chicken heaven when she left the nesting box after a month of sitting on her egg and then sitting with Gaia, in this time she had not left the night box except to relieve herself and to very quickly eat and drink.

Watching Brulee squirm around in the dirt for her first dust bath in a month which went on for twenty minutes it was a delight to watch, she was very vocal as she roll and dusted dirt over her entire body, I could sense the pleasure and relief she was feeling.

Little Gaia ran around mum getting a wing load of dust thrown over her several times, she too seemed also really happy to be out investigating the new world around her and feeling the sun on her back.

Gaia continually chirps away and was never far from mum who after her dust bath was on a mission to show Gaia what foods to eat.

Digging and scratching in the ground Brulee found a few bugs which she then fed to Gaia, and when I reappeared with some chicken food, crated carrot, lettuce leaves, corn on the cob and watermelon Brulee didn't know what to feed to Gaia first.

Keeping on top of the water bowls is the main problem, as no matter where I situated the bowls Brulee dug right next to them filling the bowls with dirt, having to relocate the bowls several times as I don't think mud is a good drink for either of them.

Gaia has grown quite a lot in this first week of life, she now has begun to loose her down and has tiny feathers appearing on her wings, and I noticed yesterday her little tail feathers also had come out over night.

Never having had chicks before watching the miracle of life unfolding day by day is such a precious experience to witness. 

Interesting as well is that the rest of the my small flock although on the other side of the enclosure they never ventured far from Brulee, Aslan in particular kept very close by these two.

In two weeks I will let Gaia out of the enclosure to explore her forever home, but until then they can be safely tucked away.....