Periodically someone shares on social media the adorable idea of hanging a feather duster over their baby chicks so that they can snuggle under it. It seems like such a great idea, the chicks instinctively gather under it, and their contented little peeps are precious.

Until it isn’t.

The problem is that the chicks poop, and poop is sticky, and eventually that sticky poop makes it way onto the tips of the feathers, sticking them to one another.

A chick inserts her head, or leg, or wing in between two stuck feathers and can’t get it out. In her panic she twists and turns, spinning the trap tighter and tighter.

I know it is tempting. It feels like you have done a wonderful thing for them, until it doesn’t.