I am making another wheel of cheddar today, and taking some more detailed photos of the process, just in case you all want to try it some time! But at 4:45 pm, I am still not ready to press it, so I thought instead I would do a post in memory of the little leghorn chick we lost yesterday.
I found her on the floor in the enclosed space where we keep them during the day. At first I thought she was just resting, but when she did not join the others in eating, I realized something was wrong. Some critter had torn up her back end. I stopped at the vet's on the way into work just to get their opinion as to whether she might live. Stacy the vet tech said she had a good chance if it was just external injuries and gave me some antiseptic to clean her up.
So little chick became Office Chicken yesterday. MJ named her Nellie Blye. But Nellie Blye must have had some internal injuries as well. She hung on for most of the day, but struggled and then died in my hands about 6 pm.
I wish I knew what happened so that I could protect her 3 little friends, but there is just no way to know. These pics of them are from today. The 2 darker ones (and Nellie) are Brown Leghorns. The yellow chick is the one that our hens hatched, and then rejected. He or she is half Buff Orpington (from the roo) and half Easter Egger (because we know she hatched from a blue egg). She has fully recovered from her rough start, and the 3 little leghorns accepted her right away. Her brother (or sister) is still being raised by the 2 mamas.
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