Look who I found the other day when I went to check on my girls! This little puff ball was hiding under mama. I had let the chickens out one morning and when I got home that evening, I went out to feed and water. I saw the barred rock still sitting on her little nest and decided to see how things were going for her. As I got closer, she ruffled up her feathers and was "growling" at me. She wiggled a bit and I swore I could hear little peeps coming from underneath her. About that time, I saw this little guy poke his (or her) head out. I was so excited!
We started the mama out with four eggs, but one by one, they started to disappear. I figured she rolled them out as she realized they weren't viable. Not sure where they went though. I know my chickens have had egg eating tendencies in the past, but these were completely gone. No empty shell or anything.
This mama was in the corner of the coop sitting on her eggs like a trooper. As all the others would wander in and out during the day, she faithfully sat on her clutch, only getting up for a short period of time to eat or drink. Then, back onto the nest she went. One afternoon, my husband came up from the pond with a duck egg. He slipped it under the mama, but I'm not sure that one is going to hatch. We've never hatched ducklings before, so this in an experiment. It's still sitting there, so I'm afraid it wasn't fertilized to begin with.
Now that baby chick is here, all the other girls have been kicked out of this pen. Luckily I have two smaller pens inside the big coop. I've locked mama and baby in one with their own food and water and all the others have to share the other pen for a while. They still have plenty of room to move around when they get shut in, but for the most part, they are wandering in and out during daylight hours.
I'm really hoping this little one does well. We haven't had a mama chicken hatch babies since we've lived here. I'll try to post pictures of his/her growth progress!
Wonderful! Hoping we get similarly surprised someday!
ReplyDeleteToo cute! One of our hens popped out 11 chicks about 7 weeks ago. We originally had 17 eggs under her but only 11 successfully hatched out. Isn't GOD's creation awesome! Then again, GOD is awesome!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Amanda
Matthew 6:33
Oh, how exciting and so darn cute! We have not had any go broody yet. As for your other eggs that disappeared...is it possible that snakes got to them? Thanks for sharing with us at The HomeAcre Hop!
ReplyDeletePlease join us again Thursday at:
http://summersacres.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-homeacre-hop-39.html
~Ann
I just wanted to stop by and let you know that your post will be featured at Thursday's The HomeAcre Hop. I will also tweet, facebook, and +1 your post. Please stop by
Deleteand grab the featured button at:
http://summersacres.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-homeacre-hop-39.html
Congrats!
~Ann
How exciting! Thank you so much!
DeleteThis really is a simply sweet picture. I can imagine all the captions that could fit your pic. Surprises are wonderful.
ReplyDelete