The first baby out of a set of duodecaplets! Isn't he breathtaking? Fresh out of the shell! There's nothing wrong with him. His neck is supposed to be like that. Because he's a turken. That's a chicken that looks like a turkey. We have several of them. They grow on you. I can only imagine those other eggs vibrating like jumping beans, their inhabitants ready to make their grand exit and entrance.
Don't you worry about these chicks getting eaten by a marauder (NOT sweet, sweet Juno) overnight. They're put up in an old rabbit hutch. That's the nursery. Babies and momma can get to know each other in privacy. The water source is not the deadly swimming pool type where the young 'uns could become unbalanced with their top-heavy heads and fall in and drown. In a few days, the brood will be ready to hit the ground cheeping.
Yes. There's not much Hick likes better than free stuff. And he sees these chicks as free chickens. If, by free, you don't have to account for all that feed he's been buying.
I can't wait to see what other hues and patterns these chicks will have. You never know whose eggs that black hen is sitting on.
That must be exciting and fun, and I am sure your sweet sweet Juno is not interested in the least.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Juno will try to protect the chicks, and if they somehow manage to get eaten by a four-legged creature, the culprit won't be Juno.
ReplyDeleteThat's an entire flock of free chicks!
ReplyDeleteI'd worry more about Hick eating the eggs. That is a cute little feathered mess.
ReplyDeleteHow cool to see Hicks "free" brood. Any chance any of those babies will be turduckens? I hear lots of people eat them on Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteSpring is officially here!! I have purple martins building nests in the eaves of the front porch, can't wait to see those babies.
ReplyDeleteI've never kept chickens but watching them hatch must be exciting.
ReplyDeletejoeh,
ReplyDeleteOf course my sweet, sweet Juno does not give a rat's patootie if a hen hatched a dozen eggs. It's not like that hen is taking food out of Juno's mouth by daring to incubate her (and several of her closest friends') offspring.
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Sioux,
You know what a selfless caretaker of the helpless my sweet, sweet Juno is. I daresay she would go to such great lengths as hiding those newly-hatched chicks (still with the scent of egg on them, perhaps) in her soft, soft mouth in order to save them from becoming predator kibble.
And at that very moment, Hick is likely to come upon her and falsely accuse her of attempted snackicide.
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Joanne,
That's a carton full. But the best part is the FREE.
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Leenie,
I do not foresee any of these chicks turning into turduckens. Mainly because we have no plans to stuff them inside a duck we are not planing to stuff inside a turkey.
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Kathy,
Juno would not enjoy the purple martins as much, what with them being in the eaves.
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Stephen,
Yeah. Because there's a surprise inside! And you never know what it's going to look like.