Meet the 2009 DAR Chicks (2)
Below are descriptions of four more 2009 DAR chicks:

DAR #36-09 hatched on June 15, 2009. #36-09 is a tall lanky chick with a mild disposition. #36-09 has been tolerant of DAR #38-09, a chick housed in the adjacent run. Even though she is almost twice the size of #38-09 they have been exercising, foraging, and hanging out in the chick yard together for a few weeks. When the chicks were moved to Necedah, they ended up sharing a run and are doing extremely well together. #36-09 has a green band on her left leg.

DAR #37-09 hatched June 16 at the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC) in Laurel, Maryland. She has enjoyed food from day one and is growing like a weed. Due to her weight gain, she has been limit fed and placed on a swimming exercise routine for the last several weeks. #37-09 is an aggressive bird and is exercised on her own. Since moving to Necedah she has calmed down some and hopefully in a few days, she will have outgrown her aggression enough to be put with other chicks. We have started short exercise sessions with #’s 34, 35, 36, & 38-09 but #’s 35; 37-09 still seem to be in competition with each other. #37-09 has a yellow band on her left leg.

DAR #38-08 hatched June 17 from a PWRC egg. He seemed to be needier than the other chicks, crying if he was left in the run when not able to be with the costume in the yard. Unfortunately, he developed a mild health issue which needed to be treated twice a day. Each time he was picked up for treatment, he would struggle and stress call. If he was in the yard, he calmed down and stayed near the costume appearing to be quite content. He and #36-09 are sharing the same run at Necedah. He is banded red on the right leg.

DAR #39-09 also hatched on June 17 from an egg sent to ICF from the Species Survival Center in New Orleans. This chick needed a lot of assistance with hatching and with surviving the first couple of weeks. At first we had to help him eat but once he finally figured out where the water bowl was, he seemed to grow like a weed.#39-09’s attitude has mellowed a lot and he has been exercising with DAR #’s 40 & 41-09. Since #’s 39 & 41-09 are both males, we anticipate they will continue to fight for dominance but hopefully they are past the really aggressive stage. They still need to be watched when they are together because they have stand-offs and short bill-to-bill sparring bouts. #39-09 has a white band on his right leg.