The first chickie hatched today - exactly 21 days. Done the old fashioned way - a randy rooster, some hens, a broody biddy and time. The day temps are in the mid 80s to low 90s right now - perfect for baby chickens. And a warm mommy to tuck under when the temps drop at night. No brooder light bulbs for me this season.
I've been on hiatus as the Army has taken over my life, but, in spite of my mostly ignoring the garden and chickens, things are moving along.
I took some photos this morning, and hopefully more chickies will be born soon. Old Biddy started out with more than a dozen eggs, but over the course of the first week, she rejected about half of them and ended up keeping 7. Don't know why she rejected some, but they were "obviously" rejects as she took the time to push them to the furthest corner of her broody cage and did not attack me when I removed them. I tried to play that game with one that she wanted, and she hollered and hissed at me and rolled it back across the floor and back into her clutch. I'm sure she had her henny penney reasons.
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