Cozy Cow Family Farm: Chicks: Mothering and Abandonment

May 14, 2018

Chicks hatch on the farm: mothering and abandonment

Mother’s Day started out with one chick hatching out. Happy Mother’s Day Harriet! 

I wasn’t positive when Harriet began setting the eggs. I’d marked Tuesday but made a mental note to check on Sunday and Monday. I took David with me to check and told him this week the chicks will hatch. We looked at the chickens and listened. I heard a faint cheeping and, lifting mama hen with one hand, we saw one chick and the second egg. Well, today is the day! I pulled out the hatched shell remains so David could show Simon. We let Harriet settle back on her chick and egg. I heard no sounds from under the other two hens.

We were out of town for the last set of chicks that hatched more than two years ago so this was really exciting to personally experience. 

We went to church and then after arriving home went to check on the chick hatching. Upon entering the coop I saw that Dotte had moved one nest over. My heart sank as I saw the empty shell and unmoving chick stretched out in the nest. I didn’t want David to see it if it was dead. And had Simon look to see if it was still alive. It weakly moved, but felt quite cold. I had him slip it under Harriet who clucked at us. We chucked Dotte out of the coop. Hatching the chick didn’t break her broodiness; maybe she knew she hadn’t been sitting long enough. She simply moved to a nest containing two newly laid eggs instead of returning to the one with the chick. 

I felt acutely aware that the cold chick’s survival could go either way. Late Sunday night, I felt hope as the chick was upright and moving, although still a little wobbly. And the third egg’s chick began pipping. Monday morning, I woke early and couldn’t fall back to sleep so, yes, I got up at 5 a.m. to go check on them. Three fluffy chicks peeping under their good mama hen. 

Hopefully, the Little Red Hen, will take care of her chick when it hatches in the next three or so days.