there's babies under there

[bj taylor]

I heard baby chirps coming out from under her this morning. a little black head poked out & chirped & pulled back under mama again - he looks just like his daddy.
mama was sitting there kinda drowsing & heard a peep. her eyes opened wide & she looked down like she was wondering what was going on under her. it's so cute. the most amazing thing. my broody girl did it! what a good girl.
after the worst weather in ever today we have new babies. how about that?

 

[MontyJ]

That's really great news BJ!

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

congrats! i had the same happen to me this morning! i heard a muffled peep and thought at first it was a bird outside the coop. but as i went in closer to check Ms Mooney i noticed the peep again and a slight movement under her wind tips. she kept clucking and eventually started growling when i tried to touch under her wing. but i pulled out a little yellow fluff ball with fuzzy cheeks and 5 toes on each foot! and then i noticed more peeping on her other side and pulled out a black fuzzball! both fully dried off, peeping and walking around on their own!

 

[so lucky]

I'm so glad there's some good stuff going on today!

 

[bj taylor]

what amazes me is when these animals have babies without human interference. incredible. I guess they've been having babies for a few years now, just like us humans :/

congratulations chickie'sMomaInNH! isn't it grand?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

it's always nice to see a little momma hen and her chickies running around! now mine has 3 little ones-another black but with fluffy cheeks! i pulled momma's nest box out of her pen to remove the broken shells to check for remaining eggs under her and there seems to be 2 more with a chance of hatching. while i pulled the box out momma took a break and ran around to do some business and the other hens came over to see what all Ms Mooney's fussing had been about. all the hens were good with the fluffy peepers and didn't try to snatch them, mostly just stared for a minute and then went about their business. the 2 peahens won't get close to me so they stayed away from the babies.

now one of my LF faverolles hens has decided she wants to go broody too. i had some purchased eggs i put under Ms Mooney last week while i was observing for other broody mommas. so i shifted those to my lady Fay this morning since i noticed the 'pancake' look to her body and she was growing as i walked by the box she chose to commandeer. she's still dutifully guarding that box and the eggs under her. she tried to go broody on me last year but had no success. i also put a few more of my own eggs under her. i'll have to eventually shift Fay to a spot that will be safe for the eggs and to keep my other clumsy hens who tend to break the eggs from getting to them.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That is great news. I feel like I'm falling a little behind with everyone else hatching already. I put eggs under a broody Black Australorp last Tuesday so they're due the 21st.

 

[897tgigvib]

O wow, BJ and chickies moma are both people moms to baby chickies on the same day.

Hay BJ, you should name them after some of the fowl weather they survived from. Late Frosty Number One, Frost Two, Freeze 3, Drought, Storm, Rain...

 

[lesa]

That is so cool! Nothing makes a more beautiful picture than a mama walking around the barnyard with her little fluffy butts! Just got my 20 chicks in the mail today!

 

[bj taylor]

marshall those are perfect names! that first black one will be storm.
lesa, 20 chicks. that's a handful. what kind did you get? i'm so excited to see mama walking around w/her babies. as usual i'm in a dilemma. i'm a bit worried those older chicks are going to be a problem for mama & her little ones. do y'all think I should pull her & her babies out & put them elsewhere or can she hold those bigger chicks off of her babies?