My Clutch Of Chicks Came Today
Elaine Meinel Supkis
March 2006
My baby chicks picked their way out of their blue egg shells. The people hatching them in Texas then put them all in a small cardboard box with some shavings to keep them warm and sent them, only a few hours old, to my farm in New York.
When I put them in their new home which is a big tub, they all ran out of their box, peeping and looking at everything. So much to see! They ran over to their water fountain and ran into it and out, getting everything wet. They ran into the nest and out of it, too.
They ran behind the box and began to cry, “I’m a lost chick! Save me!” at the top of their little lungs. “Cheep….CHEEP!”
I put some chick feed into their big tub and tapped it with my finger. Tap. Tap. Then I clucked like a mother hen. Suddenly, all the chicks decided I was their mother and they let me pick them up, move them around or rush over to me when I call them.
This is called “imprinting” and baby birds and lots of other animals will decide the first one to act like a mother, is mother. They then love you forever, which is a lot of fun. When these chicks who look like little chipmunks, grow up, they will come whenever I call and follow me all over the farm when I am working.
But they can’t wander around alone!
The red fox visits our farm, too. She sniffs around for chicks to eat. And even more dangerous are the Red Tailed Hawks who have a big nest in the woods above the house. The two hawks have sharp eyes and they can see even small chicks in the grass.
They, too, have babies now for it is spring time and the eggs of the big birds are hatching and all the song birds are now here, robins have been patrolling the pastures, looking for bugs and every morning and evening, we can hear the chorus of birds in the hedges and trees, singing their hearts out, all of them are now building nests and laying eggs.
This is a nice time of year. It makes us all happy.
Culture of Life News 1 
That is a nice explanation of the circle of life.
Posted by: Eddie Hunter | March 28, 2006 at 09:26 PM
Great! I’m expecting my chicks Monday. Unfortunately, the Feds are trying to make even raising a few chickens very difficult, if not impossible. I have no idea what the RFID tags will cost. I’m sure it will be a least as much as the cost of a chick! And if a fox gets one of the chicks, you’ll have to report it to the government.
From NoNAIS.org
But what is NAIS?
The National Animal ID program was originally designed to give the big beef producers help in getting export markets which required disease controls. The idea is that every single livestock animal in the United States will be identified and tagged. All livestock animal movements will be tracked, logged and reported to the government. The benefit is to the big factory farms who probably do need this type of regulation. They get to do single ID’s for large groups of animals. Small farmers, pet owners and homesteaders will have to tag and track every single animal.
There are no exceptions – even small farms that sell direct to local consumers will be required to pay the fees and file all the paper work on all their animals. Even horse, llama and other pet owners will be required to participate in NAIS. Homesteaders who raise their own meat and grandma with her one egg hen will also have to register their homes as ‘farm premises’ and obtain a Premise ID, tag all their animals and submit all the paperwork and fees. Absurd? Yes – There are no exceptions under the current NAIS plan. The USDA has slipped this plan in the back door without any legislation. This is going to be very expensive and guess who is going to pay for it in higher food prices… You!
Posted by: Iowan | March 29, 2006 at 02:29 PM
What the hell? I didn’t hear of that one. Will look into it more.
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | March 29, 2006 at 04:39 PM
nice story! i have 2 questions, does the “mother” hen lay blue eggs? and what is the bread of these hens?
Posted by: andrew | March 31, 2007 at 08:19 PM