The DAR chicks are doing quite well--many of the birds are now flying!   Of course the oldest bird, #32-09, has been flying for quite a while now.  She is now joined by numbers 34, 35, 36, 37, 40 & 41 who all fly.  It is a beautiful sight to see!  It does; however, seem to upset the local pair of Whooping Cranes (#11 & 17-02) who immediately fly over to check out who is in their territory.  The costumes have a challenge defending the chicks but also allowing them to grow up and learn how to interact with adult Whooping Cranes.

Unfortunately #39-09 sustained some sort of a leg injury over a week ago.  He was walking slowly for several days and then we noticed that his leg positioning had changed.  His left leg is rotated, giving him a sway when he walks. He does seem to be more active than last week.  We have started increasing his time with the rest of the chicks, but protecting him from being chased or harassed.  

We have started taking all but #39-09 out together in the morning as well as the afternoon.  Numbers 41 & 42-09 have been harassed a little more by the older chicks now that #39-09 isn't able to "protect" his buddies. 

Since the snapping turtle incident, we have checked fence lines and set traps at the holes that were created in the fence.  So far we have not caught any predators so we have started leaving the birds out in the day pen with less costume supervision.  This allows the birds to be birds and work their social structure out for themselves. 

In two weeks we will be doing our pre-release health screening of the chicks.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that everything continues to go smoothly until then.

Update by Marianne Wellington, ICF Aviculturist/WCEP DAR Co-chair.