My friend and I were hiking in the jungle exploring the ruins of an ancient Hawaiian village along a stream when we heard the unmistakable distress calls of baby chicks. It’s unusual to see wild chickens in dense jungle like this!
The rock walls were incredible and the long ago inhabitants had planted Ti plants and awapuhi were all along the stream for cooking, lei making and bathing.
Following the sound, we hiked farther up the stream and saw a tiny fuzzy chick balanced on a wet rock frantically calling for its mother. There was no mother hen anywhere to be seen.
I scooped him up and immediately saw his brother who jumped into the water and swam away from me. I managed to get him too. I searched all around for more chicks!
Just by chance I saw sibling #3 dazed and disoriented downstream a little ways. I scooped him up too and put them all in my pink backpack where they could rest comfortably while still getting enough air.
I took them home, gave them food and water and made a safe warm comfy place for them.
Unfortunately the 2 weaker chicks died the next day but the strongest sibling survived and thrived! He followed me around the house and the yard, snuggled, cheeping and chirping and getting bigger and stronger.
I was amazed at how smart these little chickens are, how affectionate and the huge variety of cheeps and sounds they make!
The chick and I had a lot of fun together. After about a month I had to find a safe home for him with other island chickens since I was going off island. I found the perfect safe haven for him, outside with other chickens yet protected from cats and dogs. He is one of the lucky ones.
Sadly it’s very common for little chicks to fall behind the family procession and lose sight of Mother Hen and their brothers and sisters. They get disoriented, panic and spend all their energy running around and cheeping frantically. Oftentimes the mother hen will never come back for her lost chick. It’s so sad! I try to save the ones I find.
