Not, perhaps, what you were thinking, but this little chickie is a star in our eyes. It, out of the 50 or so eggs that eventually appeared and disappeared under the hens over a period of about 5 weeks, actually got born.
Last Thursday, my sister, as she had been doing every day, checked the brooding hens and found this little baby. She scooped it up and took it into the house and settled it in a box with a lamp for warmth since they had been alerted by the neighbor that he had seen a chicken hawk hanging out on the fence of the yard.
It was four days old in the picture (taken Sunday) and very upset by my attempts to photograph it. We all feel like proud parents.
You might remember (if you’ve been following my chicken stories) that about two weeks ago the brooding hens (three in one nest all piled on top of each other) were moved out of the chicken yard and into the duck yard (to prevent the deposit of more eggs in the egg bank by those sneaky hens), the eggs (count ‘em, 20) were marked and the calendar as well. Sunday, there were only two eggs left and no sign of shells or chickies. The other two hens had been put back in the chicken yard several days before and the lone brooder has, seemingly, lost interest in hatching the remaining two eggs since, apparently, the jig is up and their attempt to keep the eggs from being collected discovered.
The next step is to slip the little darling, along with some egg shells, under the sleeping brooder at night so that the hen will bond with the baby. All this time, trouble and eggs for one little baby.
“Watch”, my sister says, “it’ll probably turn out to be a rooster.”
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