Look What Holly Found!

I think Holly and I heard the peep-peep-peeps at the same time but she led me to it. This tiny little Bantam mom was sitting on eggs in the old stock tank at the East End of the barn. There was an old garbage can in the tank and she had hunkered down in it, perfectly hidden and protected, covered with old baling twine. I checked the other eggs and they were cold and watery - no more chicks. I put the little family in the hen house where they would be safe from cats and have lots to eat. The little mom saw the bowl of chicken crumbles and started chowing down. She had been fasting for weeks, sitting on those eggs. The Mixed Up Chickens, who are now HUGE, pecked at the new chicks a bit so I hung around to give mom a chance to eat without having to protect the chicks. I put them in an old cat carrier under the nest boxes so they could be under some cover, but no, they wanted to run around with mom. I went outside and picked some of their favorite weeds, hoping that would distract them from the new roommates. We'll see how it goes. Chicks have usually done just fine in there - their biggest danger is me stepping on them.