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*sigh* Nothing says Spring like baby chicks. I could just kiss their beaks right off of them.

Today is day 20 for my two broodies setting on eggs. The last time these two broodies hatched out their eggs between day 19 and day 20, so I’ve been checking on them a lot the past couple of days. And looky what I found a little while ago:

Those are eggs that Broody1 is setting on. And look what she’s got:

I think she’s actually hatched out six of her nine so far, but I had a hard time counting them and couldn’t get them all to come out. I didn’t want to mess with the ones underneath her too much for fear they’d trample on the zipping eggs. Cute little buggers, aren’t they?

Broody2 has only hatched out one of her four so far. And this is the sweet little face of her first born in this hatch:

Could you not kiss it’s little beak right slap off? Lordy. I just love baby chicks. If all of these eggs hatch, we’ll have 13 new little baby chicks running around. And I’ve got two more broodies due to hatch out four eggs in about two and a half weeks.

My parents get here tomorrow and I’m really happy my mom will arrive in time to see these babies still being babies. And she’ll get to kiss them - every clucking one of them.

Bee Free,
Penny

The mamas and babies are doing great in their little pens. I’m hoping to let them out in the next couple of weeks. I hesitate because yesterday, as I was cleaning Broody2’s pen, one of my Silver Leghorns hopped right into the pen with her. She poked around a bit and then began pecking the babies. Well, I don’t need to tell you what a Mother-From-H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks Broody2 can be. She was all over that leghorn like a fly on poop. She looked like something out of Matrix. The pen is only 4′ X 4′ and I was concerned for the babies - which were running around screaming like their feathers were on fire and trying desperately to stay out from underneath mamas feet - which were incredibly busy delivering kung-fu type kicks to the leghorn’s head. It took me a minute or two, but I finally captured the leghorn and tossed her out. Broody2 stayed ruffled for quite a while after that. Lordy. That girl is a feisty one.

Here’s Broody2 with her babies:

And here’s Broody1 with hers:

I took these pictures Sunday, and all of the peeps were one week old Sunday. Except this one:

She was born the day before. She’s the White Faced Black Spanish/Phoenix mix. I think she’s looks like a little penguin. A cute, kissable little penguin.

Amazingly, after the whole big brawl we had in the coop when these two mamas faced off last week, Broody1 and Broody2 spend a lot of time snuggled up to each other with only the wire fence between them. They sleep this way each night and cluck softly between themselves. I’ve seen no sign of aggression at all, and I’m hoping they’ve kissed and made up at this point.

This isn’t a great picture, but you may be able to see the two of them better in it:

Those little Phoenix pullets are sweet little girls. They get some kind of fierce when another chicken gets around their babies, but I pick up their little peeps and the mamas fuss a little, but never go all ninja on me. Good little pullets. Great little mamas.

And I have to tell you, it makes me smile each time I walk in the coop and here “Peep. Peep.” I had forgotten what a sweet little sound that is.

Bee Free,
Penny