Blackie's Chicks - Part 1

We love new life around here!

Now that spring has arrived we are noticing new signs of life every day. This week we were especially excited to welcome 6 new chicks to the collection. Our two year old Black Sexlink hen, Blackie, started hanging out in the nest boxes all day so I moved her into a private box and gave her 9 eggs. This week her patient setting was rewarded with 6 chicks.

The day after they were due to hatch I was in the chicken house when I heard a new voice peeping up among the others. I found 2 brand new babies who had fallen out of her nest and didn't know how to get back. Blackie was clucking and anxious but unwilling to leave her nest. I put my hand down to pick up the little ones and they immediately huddled under my hand as if it was their mother's wing. I gave them a quick inspection and a little bit of love before giving them back to Blackie. I caught sight of another fluffy body but didn't find out how many hatched till later in the day.

_{Just hatched! You can see the feathers are not fully dry.}

_{Playing peekaboo!}

The chicks are from my Buff Orpington rooster and an assortment of hens so the breeds of these chicks will take a little guesswork. One hatched from a green egg so I know one is half Buff Orpington and half Araucana or Easter Egger but the others could be from any of my brown egg layers. I do enjoy guessing and figuring out who they came from so this will be fun for me.

_{Day two. I believe the chick you see in front hatched from a green egg. We shall see though.}

_{Day three.}

_{Orpah is setting and will hatch her chicks any day now too.}

I'm taking daily photos of the chicks to chart their development. I'll continue this for the first 30 days and then maybe do weekly photos. For those of you who wish you had chicks and need to see chicky cuteness, I plan to share an update with several photos every few days.