One Baby Chick

According to my calculations, tomorrow is when the eggs should start hatching but then I remembered I wasn’t counting the day she began sitting on the eggs as Day 1 so I went out there and sure enough, one little chick has hatched.

Baby Chick

This is the Black Astralorp mama and she’s the sweetest hen ever. I can pick her up or pick the baby up and she’s never once tried to take my hand off. Remember that she’s the one who had been sitting on eggs for over a week when the snake came and ate all the eggs so I gathered up 7 eggs from inside the house and put the out for her. We only have on rooster, a Dominique, so he’s the father of any babies. The mom will either be Dominiques, Black Astralorp or Buckeyes. It will probably be hard to tell the difference in the babies who had the Black Astralorp or the Dominque for the mom. I’m anxious to see if we have any babies from the Buckeye hens, and if I’ll be able to notice a difference.

As far as the aggravating little bantam . . she’s so mean. I am starting not to like her and I think the feeling is pretty much mutual. I went out the other day and she had again moved off her nest, where she had accumulated 17 eggs. I threw them all out! Done . . I’m not cutting her any more slack. She’s ruined about 3 dozen eggs trying to figure out which nest she wants to use. Right now, she’s sitting on 3 wooden eggs and she can sit on those til her heart is content.