Babies!

We, and the mama hen, were finally rewarded for our waiting on Thursday night. Exactly 21 days after she began sitting, just like the book said, we had a baby chick! Jake came in from putting the chickens away, and whispered excitedly, "A chick hatched!" He didn't want his brothers to hear, as they were going to bed. Well, and just because he didn't want them out there. Craig and I went out to see the new baby. He or she looks just like his mama! We had to lift her up off the nest to get a peek at it, and finally got it to come out.

It kept running back under her, and the second time we lifted her up, we found another one!

Two sweet little silkies, just like her! We were terribly excited! After being out for just a minute, they would both run right back under her, and she would lift her wings to let them in. They had a nice, cozy place to snuggle.





The next morning, I took some scrambled eggs and kefir out to them, and got mama eating. When I put some eggs in the hay in front of her, she started making some new clucking noises that I've never heard any of our hens make, and began showing them how to peck at it. She would break up the big pieces and put them in front of the chicks, then coo encouragingly at them to try it. They got the hang of it pretty quickly, and were soon waiting eagerly for their next bite.





She did let us hold them, but she kept an eye on us the whole time. We also went ahead and checked the remaining eggs in her nest, and discarded them, since none of the others were fertile. I didn't want her to continue sitting on eggs that weren't going to hatch, in case that kept her from tending to the chicks.





By Monday, she had them out and about. She was doing a good job of leading them around, usually away from the rest of the small flock, and was very protective. She chased off several guineas, as well as the lazy, curious cat, who may think they look like an easy catch. We were especially careful about letting Neco out at first, but soon saw that he wouldn't be able to get anywhere near them.




They would wait patiently beside her, watching her peck, then she would lift her head and coo, and they would do their pecking. Then they would back up and watch, waiting for her signal to dig in. It is very cute.



I took a short video to share, and it's so funny, because it almost looks like it has been sped up. They move so fast, and follow so close to her! I can't imagine how hard it would be to keep up with them if her whole nest had hatched. You can also see the rooster in the video. While he appears to be protective of the mama and babies, he's really just keeping his eye on me, challenging me. He actually attacked my leg yesterday, ruffling up his cockle feathers, and I had to spray him with the water hose. He might annoy me, but I'm glad those babies have a territorial rooster and a good, protective mama hen to keep them safe!