This fluffy chicks has no dobuts about who its mother is.
She is the one who keeps it warm.
She warns it if danger threatens.
She teaches it how to behave.
She feeds it every morsel it consumes.
Watch this video to see how, despite sometimes standing ankle deep in food, the chicks wait for their mother to select every speck of food for them.
No incubator or brooder box can every replicate or adequately replace this care and affection displayed by a mother hen.
They look to her for guidance, protection, food and water.
This is why every one of my designer backyarders are hatched, raised and taught by specially selected mother hens. The alternative ways of hatching and raising chicks are too awful to think about.
This first pipped shell for 2012...
Closely followed by the first chick of the season...
And I knew there had to be more under Daphne when I found these...
They were having a bit of a meet & greet at the back of the mower catcher...
These photos had to be taken in the dark so as to not frighten them or their slightly anxious mother.
There are 9 more eggs in this lot yet to hatch, and Salt&Pepper's eggs should begin to pip in the next few days so an exciting week ahead.
This will help get that waiting list moving!
Let's all pray there's plenty of pullets and very few cockerels.
