Here chicky, chicky

Last night I had one of those experiences that was one of those that made me stop and say - wow, I never thought I'd be doing this. 

A couple of weeks ago, we bought some chicks.  Baby chickens.  Out of the first batch of four, one survived.  We bought four more so the first one would not be lonely and now have a lovely cackle of five.  We have two Cochins, two Favorolles, and something that fits the description of a black chicken - white feathers with black skin and feet. 

Let me just say that I am not a bird person.  When I was in high school, we had a parakeet for a while.  One night a friend and I let him out of his cage so he could fly and he flew straight into the wall.  He died the next day.  Because I am not a bird person, I am working to overcome my squeamishness in dealing with the chicks.  For some reason, they just seem kind of gross.  I like them, but they kind of freak me out.

So last night I am watching them fight over the scraps of lettuce I am dropping into their cage.  They love the heck out of lettuce.  Not crazy about carrots, though.  Three of them have droppings stuck to their backside.  They have been like that for a while and I keep thinking it will dry up and fall off, but if anything the masses have gotten bigger.  The skin under the poop has become red and irritated and I feel compelled to act.

A co-worker of mine has chickens and he told me to hold their bottoms under running water and the poop will fall off.  But the thought of bringing these little salmonella spreaders into my house was not at all appealing.  So, I got my trusty squirt bottle, filled it with warm water and began squirting.  It did not fall off like the guy told me it would and the next part involved rubber gloves. 

As I chased one chick around their cage, it occurred to me that when I got up yesterday morning, I never once thought I would be pulling poop off a chicken's butt that night.   I can only imagine what tonight holds in store.