Mother of the Year

H.I.M. has proven to be a great mother.  She has always been my best forager, but I was surprised to find she had the chicks out foraging when they were just 2 days old.  There is a vacant lot next to the house, and she takes them to an area covered with brush to forage.  The chicks are stronger than any that I have raised in a brooder. Even though they are only a week old, they are already climbing over down palm trees and scratching for bugs with their mother. 

The chicks' confidence did get one of them in trouble.  I was inside the house and heard a chick screaming at the top of its lungs.  I went running out to find a chick swimming in a bucket of water.  I rushed it inside, towelled it dry, and since the heat lamps were packed up, turned the hair dryer on it.  I tried putting it back with Mom, but she got very stressed because she realized that she needed to sit on the chick to keep it warm, but the other chicks were running all over the place, and she couldn't keep an eye on them.  I took the chick, set up a heat lamp, and got the chick warmed up, and ready to keep up with its family.  When I took the chick back, H.I.M. flew up and sat on my arm, something she hasn't done since she was a youngster.  She checked out her baby and clucked it off with the others, totally focused on teaching them all a little chick should know.

The second runner up for Mother of the Year is the gander.  He has taken the goslings under his wing and is doing a great job teaching them the ropes and keeping them out of trouble.  He even helps me herd them into bed at night.  Now that the goose is off the nest (none of her eggs hatched), she is also helping to keep the goslings in line.