Just recently, Sue came briskly walking up to the house, which usually means something’s wrong on the homestead. I braced myself and went out to meet her and asked her what was wrong. But what ended up being “wrong”, or at least of some immediate attention, was that she discovered a chicken mommy in the barn loft with a whole batch of chicks with her! Near the edge of the loft too, which is probably 10 feet off the ground! Wow!
Here’s a picture of the stairs going up to the loft — she made her nest way in the back corner there by the buckets:
We went up there, and sure enough — a bunch of them! They had at least moved away from the edge, and so we grabbed mama and put her in a cage for the moment, and then gathered up her little ones into a pet carrier, and put them all into the brooder barn (formerly the summer kitchen).
And here they are now! We believe there are 15, and it appears the hen hatched out all the eggs that were under her. She must have just been dropping eggs into her nest herself, and then did the sitting. This mother is a good one too — very often broody:
And here’s their video:
We are very thankful to the Lord for this unexpected gift to start this 2020, and for the safe hatching, and that He had mama set on the nest in the barn! We pray they are used for His glory in some way, and the benefit of the homestead and others, as He wills!
— David
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