Hay Mow Mommies

I've had two hens hatch clutches of chicks in the last few days, and two more are holed up in the upper hay mow, sitting on eggs.  One mom must have twenty eggs under her.  The mound of hay bales make great cubicles for broody hens.  They are blissfully undisturbed by dogs up there, and the hay mow kitties seem to have made a truce with them.  The new moms marching around with tiny dots of feathers following them are proof of that.  I think the ample amount of feed I put up there every night, climbing the ladder with a slippery bucket of delicious slop, helps keep the cats from eating the chicks.  Free range chickens are great for eating flies around the barn.  Unfortunately just as many roosters hatch as hens, and they are a real nuisance.  You can't have the yin without the yang I reckon.  In the meantime, we are enjoying green fields and blue skies.  The sheep are fat and happy.  What's a few more chickens to feed over the winter?