My first baby chicks hatched at Bobblehead Homestead by my own hens. YIPPEE!!! My cool neighbor with the cows had a broody hen and hatched 8 chicks for me and gave me the hen, but these were the first I hatched here.
The broody hen is #2, yes her name is a number, and she had to sit on these eggs a few more days than normal. On Friday the 13th of July, I went out just before midnight and discovered a black rat snake eating the eggs Hen #2 was sitting on. So after dispatching of the snake, I put 10 eggs under her just before midnight. 8 of those eggs made it to today, and four of them hatched today. I wasn't expecting them until tomorrow, but I'll take it and I hope the other 4 hatch.
These are the chicks my neighbor hatched for me and the hen he gave me.
When I got to this property back in October, there were 4 hens that were left here completely on their own from July until October by the previous owner. I named them 1, 2, 3, and 4 based on my observations of their pecking order. Only #2 is left now, as 4, 1, and then 3 went off to roost in the trees at night and I never saw them again. We had some fun times and I'll always miss them.
Hen #2 is special to me and she has gone broody a few times already so I am very happy she finally got to hatch out some eggs. The eggs she hatched were not her own eggs, but I doubt she cares. :) I'll be up bright and early in the morning to see if the other 4 eggs have hatched.
The last picture kind of proves that one of the first thing a chicken learns after they are born, is how to stand in their food and mess it up.
I recently "cashed in" some of my Steem and I will be using that to build another chicken coop to help expand my operations. These chicks should be first generation olive egger chickens. The father is a Welsummer rooster, their breed lays dark brown eggs, and the mothers are Whiting True Blue hens that lay blue eggs. Their offspring should lay a green/olive egg, but I won't know for sure for another 5 months or so and they need a place to live until then.
Thanks Steemit, and thanks to Hen #2 for sitting on those eggs a few more days than normal after the snake attack on Friday the 13th.
