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An Equestrian Life

Farm Life
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May 18, 2017

Baby Chicks Update

A while back, I had baby chicks born. They were adorable, fuzzy little black things. But now they have grown up. The ones Dave picked up from the store have been given to my neighbor, and the fuzzy little black ones were put outside. Unfortunately, one of them did wander away and disappear forever. Rest in peace little guy. But the rest of them are now thriving. Their fuzz fell out and was replaced by colorful feathers. Only one of them stayed black, but now she has stylish white trim on her wings. 

It took a while for them to adjust. At first, they cried a lot and kept to themselves. When we’d come visit, they would run to us, and we would pick them up and give them a cuddle. But sadly, they are chickens, and we are not, and they must live with their own kind.

But then, in a shocking turn of events, one of the adult hens literally adopted these little babies. At first, we thought it was a weird fluke. We went out to close the coop at night, and one of the silkie hens had these half grown, half chicks, half adult chickens nesting under her wings. 

Mother Hen watching over her baby.

When we began letting them into the yard more, it was obvious. They moved together as a little group, the hen and her three little babies. She called to them to stay close to her. They followed her obediently around the yard.

Mother Hen with two of her babies.

It is both one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen, and also shocking. I had no idea hen would adopt little half grown adolescent chicks. I knew you could sneak in babies into their nest and they might adopt it, but she met these chickens when they were much older (8 weeks, maybe?). That seems pretty old to adopt babies – they are self-sufficient chickens at that point. 

All I can imagine is that this little silkie hen heard these poor chicks crying for love, and she took them literally under her wing. Chickens have compassion for other chickens… who would have guessed?

As to why the chicks were still crying at such an old age…well… I guess I raised spoiled little millennial chicks kept in my house, who were cuddled every night and could do no wrong. I failed as a parent to give them the skills needed to succeed in the world. I’m sorry little chicks – at least there was some other parent out there to pick up the slack for me!

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  • Olivia
    May 19, 2017

    SO cute. I miss having chickens.

    Reply
  • Sarah
    May 19, 2017

    That’s freaking adorable. Sweet mama hen is taking care of the babies…lol. Sometimes we need mothering in spite of our ages. 😉

    Reply
  • emma
    May 19, 2017

    awwww i <3 your chicks. also tho, LOL @ 'millennial chicks'

    Reply
  • Nicole
    May 19, 2017

    Our Domenique went broody so we put some easter egger and leghorn eggs under her. She’s done a great job brooding and raising the babies so far and it’s THE CUTEST THING EVER. My only complaint is that she can’t count worth a damn. When she decides its bedtime (inevitably far earlier than the chicks think is bedtime), she goes in to the coop and clucks for them to join her. The four chickeniest chicks will join her, and then she just… stops clucking. She’s like “Whelp, got all my babies. We’re good.” Only there are four more outside freaking out and peeping like crazy trying to figure out where the hell their fluffmama is. So when we’re submitting suggestions for chicken improvements, I’d like my hen to be able to count to eight, please.

    Reply

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courtney

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