Mother Hen

I bought an incubator to hatch chicks because the hens I have are not likely to go broody. Two days prior to my incubator eggs hatching I had a hen decide to go broody. I moved her to a big dog kennel and let her set on 15 eggs. A broody hen is quite the way to go. You don't have to worry about humidity, or temperature or turning them. Just provide mama hen with food and water and she does the rest. Anyway I let her been the entire time. I did not check the eggs or candle them. Today I decided I should check and see if anything is happening (Monday is day 20 out of a 21 day cycle). I lifted up mama hen and saw a tiny, wet chick moving about.

I ran into the house yelling to the girls "Big news on the farm" and they knew right away. I went again this evening to check and I found two little fluff balls cuddled under mama. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment :-)