Sorry, I was in having a surgical procedure done today and it took all freakin' day. If she is grabbing it and tossing it around, I'd take it away pronto! Do you have another broody hen you can slip the chick under during the night? If not, you might want to make a brooder box with a heat source, food & water--but if no more chicks hatch, you'll have to get at least one other chick (preferably two, in case one dies) to keep it company. Chickens are flock animals right from the get-go and will PEEP loudly and fretfully if on their own, they hate it. Either that or YOU will become it's flockmate, and it will want to be with you all the time, and I DO MEAN all the time! *L* Baby chicks often do 'change color' once they loose their baby fluff--I sure wish the Americaunas kept their chipmunk stripes and Egyptian eye liner! *G* They start to show their true basic color after a few weeks when they get their first feather, and during the first 1-2 years become more and more beautiful. Velvet ~:>

Lisa and Cathy, Thanks for your encouragement. This year, the nest box is where I don't have but a few steps to run down should I have to :) Plus, I've had my knee replaced since last summer so I'm doing steps MUCH better. But the bottom line is THERE WILL BE NO HOUSE WRENS! I put a sign up where they can see it so I expect it'll work...I WISH! So far so good. I have two babies who are growing fast. And they are tough kids so there's nothing could stop them!! Bluebird blessings, Linda...

I would like to invite you to join the bluebird nut cafe forum. It is much more active than this site and we have many veteran bluebirders that can give quick answers. Check us out! http://bluebirdnutcafe.yuku.com/

Jeannie, I don't know if you can tell when the photo is enlarged, but the chrysalis has been formed on a piece of fine netting. With this group, I raised them in clear 32 oz food containers, which look like big soda cups. I place a round piece of netting over the top and secure with a rubber band. When the cat forms his chrysalis, it is attached to the netting and I can then place it on a piece of Styrofoam like you see. When they begin to darken, I take the netting and safety pin it to a ribbon dangling from the ceiling in a butterfly rearing cage. When they eclose, they can cling to the netting and dry. Once dry, I release them. Using these containers requires a lot of work if there are large numbers of cats, as I only keep one or two cats per container and they must be fed frequently. I keep cut up pieces of paper towel to use in the bottom of the cups. My son refers to these paper towels pieces as butterfly diapers. These are replaced several times in a 24 period, so the container is kept clean. I've gotten quite good at being able to gently remove the rubber band by pushing it off of the bottom of the container. Then I secure the netting circle with a clothes pin while I work on the container, even when there is a cat clinging to the netting. When this simple equipment is no longer needed, I sanitize and dry the netting and containers, then stack and store for future use. Using these small containers, I can remove leaf material from a milkweed and feed individual leaves. I didn't have a lot of big mw plants this spring, so this allowed me to selectively remove leaves from growing plants and keep the plants producing. Later in the season, I can place a pot of fresh milkweed in the rearing cage and let them have at it until time to replace the pot with a new pot. That is a lot less time consuming, as not having to harvest individual leaves and cleaning one cage a couple of times a day is far easier than many individual containers but I didn't have much potted milkweed available this spring so had to resort to selectively plucking leaves. :-) I got the idea for using these little containers, Clear Food Storage Containers from a past forum member who showed photos of his rearing set up, which he kept in his office. The netting circles I buy packaged, about 12 circles to a package. I've forgotten what they're called but I found them in Wedding Supplies. Actually, the number of spring cats this year has surprised me. If not for having the use of young milkweed from my small greenhouse, these particular little guys would never have reached adulthood because I didn't have enough emerging garden milkweed to support them. Mary