Fall Chicks

          Days of waiting -- not knowing if any of the 7 eggs Miss Brooder was sitting on since Sept. 30 was going to 'make'... Last night while picking eggs, I heard cheeps and peeps underneath her.   YAY!! BABIES!!!
          Not intending to make the story longer (or maybe try to be somewhat interesting)... This Girl! decided to nest in the Hay Bale in the Barn.  This is the goats food!  No protection from predators.  She and several other hens made this hole in the hay and have laid there for weeks... Finally, Miss Brooder, wouldn't let us pick any more eggs from underneath her... SO; checking it out.. there was nothing under her... I took the day's pick  and placed them under her.. "Good Luck"...   I marked her and her eggs with blue food coloring so if any new eggs appeared; I might notice... AND most importantly, if she was wandering the range, I'd might notice she has abandoned the nest.

           During this time, we had a family of raccoons forage the chicken feed bin, just 10 feet away. With no luck of disposing of the intruders, I spread Hoss' dog hair all over the barn floor... hoping his scent would keep them away...  Apparently it has worked (so far).   Now our dilemma is to see if Miss Brooder will be a good Mom and keep the cats away!!

             Life is a miracle - anyway you look at it!   I love having babies on the farm, Feathered or Furry or just plain HUMAN!!!   Lots of SMILES!  

Hugs to all!

9/19:11am Update: The count is now up to 5

9/20. Update: final count = 6. Miss Brooder has moved down to the ground.   Teaching little ones how to eat, drink and huddle under her for safety.