Denise had her babies!  I had put three brown eggs, and three blue eggs under her, and four of the six eggs hatched, (two of each color).  That’s pretty successful, if you ask me.   The blue eggs came from a breed of chicken called an Ameraucana, (most likely), and I am unsure of the breed that the brown eggs came from.  Brown eggs are much more common with different breeds, and I didn’t ask the man that gave me the eggs if he knew which breed they came from, (nor do I think he would know, if he has multiple brown-laying breeds).  I don’t know the sex of the chicks yet, so for now I will refer to each one as “she” to make it easier, and because that’s what we are hoping for.

Here is a pic of the first chick to hatch, from a blue egg.  She showed up a day early, on Wednesday afternoon.

Denise had to keep sitting on the other eggs, until they were all done hatching, so I got to hold her while D was preoccupied.

Baby number two didn’t show up until Thursday morning, looking the opposite of number one.

When number three showed up, it was a little extra exciting because I got to catch a glimpse of the hatching egg, (the other blue one), while Denise sat with her butt in the air, to give room.  I could hear the chick pecking away at the shell, trying to break free.  This little one must have a different rooster daddy because she has feathered feet, which you only see with specific breeds, (maybe a Cochin?).  But, besides her feather feet, she is basically number one’s twin.

After I noticed the feather feet, I looked more closely at the others, and realized that number two also has feathered feet!  So, while the two have different mom’s, they might have the same dad.  (How confused is everyone right now?)

Number four came soon after number three, and she is all black, with a fluffy yellow booty.  Here is a pic of all four, sticking close to mom.

I knew that one of the two eggs left was not a chick, so Friday morning I grabbed it and threw it out, (it was marked from when I candled them).  When I was doing that, I saw that the sixth egg was broken, and also not a chick.  What I found was so gross, that I will not share details.  I normally do okay with disgusting visuals.  It’s the smells that accommodate them that make me come close to vomiting…which almost happened.    Anyway, on to some fun random things.

Here is a picture of the inside of a just hatched egg.

Denise plucks feathers out of her breast and belly area for this whole process so that her skin is against the eggs and babies.  I tried to get a pic of this, but trying to hold her and take the picture at the same time proved to be quite difficult, so this is the best I could do.   You can see the chicken skin next to her leg.  She was not happy, so I didn’t want to keep trying for better picture.  This pic doesn’t do the nakedness much justice.  Her whole underside is bare.

The first outing in the yard.  SO CUTE!

Chicks are supposed to be kept at a very warm temperature until they get their feathers.  When they don’t have a chicken mom, they are kept in a brooder at 95 degrees for the first week, subtracting about five degrees each week until they are ready to go outside.  So, rather than having a heat lamp on them, like I would do if I were raising them on my own, Denise keeps them warm herself.  Since it’s summertime, they can be out in the yard, enjoying the warmth for a good part of the day, but when the temps drop, or it’s nap time, Denise sits on the babies.

Here is number two peeking out from behind mom’s feathers.

From here I will let Denise raise them for several weeks, then eventually they will go live at a friend’s house.  Let’s hope they aren’t all roosters!