Four new chicks!  

Picture
'Spacey' and two of her day-old chicks
Spacey hatched four chicks today, and still has two eggs to go, although they may not be fertile (we didn't get around to candling them to see).  She is still in the nest box, and the chicks venture only a short distance (a couple inches) from her before they dive back under her feathers.  Her warmth will be vital tonight, as it is forecasted to be quite cold.  


By the end of the week, they will go outside and begin learning foraging skills from her.  A few times during the day and all through the night, she will protect the chicks from the cool temperatures and give them necessary rest, protection and warmth under her feathers.  It will take a few days until their downy fluff is replaced by bigger feathers. 

Eventually, when the chicks are agile enough to climb the ramp to the coop, they may return to their original nest box for the evenings.  Even after the hen has detached from her chicks (many weeks later), the chicks will not venture far from each other and will often sleep cuddled up together.

Older, but still fun news....

Our second broody hen of the season... Due Monday the 18th!!

"Spacey", our somewhat absent-minded but lovable broody hen, is due to hatch her eggs very soon.  In fact, I was just at the henhouse and peeked under her and found one egg with a little leg sticking out!  Spacey was clucking sweetly to the chick and it was peeping back, as it kicked, pecked, and took rests as it works its way out of the egg.  We'll see what tomorrow brings... I'll post pictures here.

Broody has hatched some chicks!!

It's always a busy place in the hen house, but it was especially eventful when Broody's chicks appeared!  We noticed she had become broody in late March, so, on April 1st we marked some eggs and let her go about her business.  She worked with diligence setting on the eggs, tucking them under her feathers, and only taking a few short breaks for herself.  Sure enough, 21 days later, we had some new additions on the farm!  Here are some photos...  Enjoy! 

The other hens look in to see the new kids on the block.  Broody has her own private 'wing' of the mobile coop for hatching her chicks, so the hens may be curious why that area is off-limits. 

Soon Broody will move her chicks outside, and teach them to be good foragers.  

Whenever the chicks get cold or scared, they pop back under their mothers' feathers.  She responds to their peeping sounds, and has sounds of her own that they react to.  This will be vital to their survival when they are outside. 

We have had good success with the chicks hatched on the farm last year, they are some of our most beautiful hens. 

The chicks will be close by their mother hen for many weeks, learning by watching.  Eventually she will leave them alone and go back to laying eggs.  In a few months, they will be laying eggs too! 

Back to News