This Rooster + Buff Orpington Hen = Some interesting Little Chicks.
Here's a more recent picture of the fast growing little chicks...
The fourth chick was abandoned in the nest by it's mother. I tried to get the above hen to accept it, but it was a little younger than her chicks, so she figured out it wasn't hers and kept pecking at it. For now it's residing in a bird cage on our back porch.
We also had a bunch of Guinea keets. (Fowl lesson for the day: baby guineas are called “keets”, not chicks.) The guinea hens have been nesting in pairs this year, with double nests containing up to 50 eggs. One pair ended up with about 16 keets out of all those eggs, one set ended up with about 5 keets, and another set abandoned their eggs after a snake kept raiding the nest.
Guinea hen and keets crossing our driveway.
The only fowl problem is we don't have any peafowl chicks this year. I don't seem to have much luck getting them to hatch out. I have a couple of incubators filled with eggs, but no chicks yet. I keep hoping!
Meanwhile, we'll enjoy watching the fast growing chicks and keets scampering around after their mothers. It's fun to see them hopping around, scratching and trying to do "big chicken" stuff.
Chicken Littles... gotta love 'em!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I love your pictures! (I miss our Rhode Island Reds and Golden Comets running around the yard.) I enjoy reading your stories and experiencing a part of your life through your blogs. You are a gifted writer mastering the beauty of words.
Hi there. I saw your photo of the hen with chicks in the sunshine and realised this was perfect for the storybook I have written for my great-niece for her first birthday. I couldn't find a copyright on your page but hope you won't mind me using it. Your photos are lovely
Regards, Imelda
I don't mind you using photos for non-profit items. If the book is for sale, that's another matter. However, if it's just for your great-niece, hope she enjoys it.