Baby Chicks!

Yesterday was the day I had calculated that we should have baby chicks. With the crazy weather, I never went out to check. Vince went out between storms and gave them fresh water and checked their food but he didn’t even check for eggs. I was busy all morning so it was the afternoon before I got out there and I can see at least four babies. There may be more.

They are so weird! The bantam started out in the left nest. Then the Dominique took over that nest and the bantam moved to the middle. Then, at some point, the bantam had moved to the right nest. Today, the bantam and her babies are in the left nest. She left behind 2 eggs but only 1 had an “X” on them. I had put an  “X” so I would know which eggs they were sitting on but at some point, they had managed to get to snag some extra eggs so I lost track so I threw out both the eggs that were in that right nest. One of them, that didn’t hatch was the bantam egg. I’d love to have another bantam because they’re such good mothers but . . it would only be half bantam because the only rooster I have is the big old Dominique rooster. It may be that the baby was too big for the little egg and would never hatch .. I don’t know.

Bantam & Babies

That’s just a loose feather in the back corner. I can see 3 babies. There may be more but when Vince went out to see them, there were just three that came out to see us. When we talk to them, they come out from under her and she doesn’t like it one bit. See her giving me the evil eye? If I tried to touch one of those babies, she’d try to kill me!

I have no idea if these are girls are boys. This site shows how to tell the difference but I can’t tell even with their pictures for comparison. If I had to guess, I’d say the two closest to the front are boys and the one in the back is a girl but I don’t know. I have a friend who wants at least one of the boys. 

Baby Chick

This one I’m pretty sure is a boy. His spot is very diffused. But, again, I wouldn’t bet the farm. I’m never right on things like this. Mama is also giving me the evil eye. They sure don’t want me around their babies.

We have one rooster – a Dominque, so all the chicks have him for a dad. We have 3 full blooded Dominique hens, 1 Australorp hen and one hen (in the picture above) that has a Dominique dad and a red hen for a mom. She’s barred like the Dominiques but has some reddish tints. 

So, your guess is as good as mine as to what these babies are. Babies! That’s what they are. Cute little baby chicks! They brought a smile to my face today!