Goldilock's Chicks
Two of the eggs were from DeeDee and one from DumDum. Having 3 out of 3 hatch is quite an indicator of Penguin's virility (wink wink). Two of DeeDee's eggs were chosen because she had decided to lay her eggs in a hidden location and we didn't find them for a few days.
I love watching her roll the eggs under her to incubate. She's such a small chicken, yet she thinks she can sit on big eggs. The video below shows how dedicated she is to sit on eggs (and yes, at the time she was sitting on a golf ball too!)
To make sure that she ate and drank, we took her off the nest at least once a day. She would do a poo, eat some food and drink. I would still include her in the breakfast routing and she got given some greens in the afternoon too. We certainly did not want her to starve! She also got head rubs as she really likes them and they help her to relax.
I had candled the eggs around day 15 and was quite pleased to see veins. The blue tint in the Araucana eggs made it hard to see clearly, but there were definitely veins!
Then on day 21, we came home to hear some cheeping under Goldilocks! Two of the eggs had hatched and one was in the process. It was certainly very exciting. This is one of the little ones we saw that night. A grey chick and a white one.
By morning, the last chick had hatched and we had two grey chicks and a white one. The white chick had to be from DumDum since she is white feathered. It was going to be harder to tell the two grey ones apart until we found out later that one had pink toes and the other black toes. Mumma Goldilocks was keeping them in close range and kept on tucking them under her.
We were quite worried about how Spot and the other hens would react to the chicks, so we brought out a small coop and moved Goldilocks and the chicks into it. Goldilocks was certainly not happy, but I didn't want any of the hens to hurt the chicks. Goldilocks was still keeping them close and the chicks loved snuggling under mumma's wing!
Over the next few days she got used to it and finally started taking her chicks out of the nest box and into the sandy run. The chicks are getting bolder too, running around and jumping up and down. Asking mum for a piggy back ride!
I've also noticed that the pink toed chick is quite bold and not that afraid of us. That chick will eat off my hand and has quite an appetite! None of the chicks are that afraid of us really, since Goldilocks is used to us patting her. She is still quite vigilant, each time she hears the ravens or Currawongs call out, she sits bolt upright and utters a warning call. The chicks either freeze or run under mumma for protection.
At night Goldilocks retreats back into the nest box where it is nice and warm. She settles down for the night and the chicks tuck themselves in under her wing or under her belly.
I am actually quite amazed at how well Goldilocks interacts with the chicks. She calls them to her when she senses danger, she feeds them food and makes "food here" clucky noises. She tucks them under her to keep them warm and she tolerates them running and jumping all over her. No one taught her any of this and all from a little hen not quite 1 year old yet! She's so gentle with them that it's amazing to watch her with the chicks.
Hope you enjoyed the new little one chicks. They are so cute right? Of course, we still can't neglect our other chickens, they still get lots of cuddles. We'll let mumma Goldilocks raise these three. I'm sure she'll do a fantastic job.
Cuddle your chickens!
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