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| Buffy |
About a month ago, our hen Buffy became broody. At first I was sure she was dying. She would walk around all puffed up and making a cooing, chirping noise. Then she would throw herself on the ground, stick her legs out, and put her wing in the air. It was very scary. After a couple of days, she started staying in the nest box and we figured out she was broody. Having no rooster, we thought this would be a fun opportunity to hatch some chicks. We went to a local farm and bought 6 fertile hatching eggs (barnyard mix chickens, nothing fancy) then brought them home and stuck them under Buffy. After 4 days we candled the eggs and decided 4 were developing, one was not fertile, and one had a shell to dark to see through.
It takes 21 days for chickens to hatch. Buffy sat faithfully on her eggs for 19 days. 19 days?! At 19 days she decided she was done. In a panic I called a friend with an incubator, rushed over, rushed back, and 2 days later our first chick hatched. It took almost 2 days for the last of the four to hatch. That was a nerve wracking experience! I was so worried about that last egg. Now, two days later, she is the fattest little chick of the bunch. (I keep calling them all she in hopes that they will not start crowing later!)
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| 4 new babies |
I'm happy to say all four chicks are very vibrant and lively. Here's to hoping none of them start to crow!
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