Cheep! Cheep!

I'm new to raising chickens and after a rough summer where a racoon had infiltrated the coop and managed to kill half my flock, it was starting to look pretty grim. But just when it seemed to be a lost cause.... I was shown that there's always hope!

My hens started laying, and this little gal did an awesome job with her first clutch of eggs.

As soon as I saw that she had decided to sit on her eggs I marked out 21 days on my calendar, just as my farming mentor told me. It was exciting!!!

We had a love-hate relationship, where I would cater to her every need, and she'd peck my hand as a "Thank you".....

But 21 days later, I came home to find her off the nest... All that was left was a bunch of empty shells!

She had somehow managed to get her chicks down out of the nest about 18 inches and was underneath the nesting boxes. I could hear the quiet, "cheep, cheep" coming from under her, so I gently moved her wing and out popped a little yellow ball of fluff!

!

Just as fast as he ran out, it ran right back in again and hid under momma's wing!

Over the next few days I was able to finally get a good count on how many chicks hatched... 12!!!!!

So now I went from having four chickens to 16. They are all doing really well and growing fast! Stay tuned for some updates.