Disaster mitigation

Total chick death toll: 5. All have been bantams except one.

I called McMurray Hatcheries this morning, and the woman I talked to said that because of changes in plane schedules, not to mention horrible weather, a lot of chicks are getting chilled in transit and coming down with pneumonia. "It's always pneumonia when this happens," she said. She was really helpful. I am supposed to call again tomorrow morning to update her on our progress.

The chicks are getting Terramycin* in their sugar water for the next five days. They'll be getting some PediaLyte mixed in there, too. The remaining peeps look pretty strong, and I have high hopes for them all.

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* I am very much against using antibiotics prophylactically the way many in the livestock industry do. But when it comes to actual illness, the test I use is this: Would I take antibiotics if it were me? Most of the time, the answer is no--in fact, I can't remember the last time I actually filled a prescription for antibiotics. But in the case of pneumonia, I'd be insane not to say yes.