Baby chickens almost two weeks old

I love baby chickens and the way the two mother hens show so much care, protection and love to them. This photo was taken 5 mins ago, so cute...

Plus a few more photos taken over the last few days

Baby Chickens

Hilda and Lucy when I first bought them in June this year, funny looking things...

Now Lucy and Hilda are mums to 4 baby chickens and this is the day the eggs hatched, right on time on Thursday 17 November, 21 days after the fertile eggs were placed under Hilda. I had 7 fertile eggs, 1 egg was cracked by the mum's, 1 never hatched and 1 chicken I found dead and not formed properly.

Only a few hours old

A day or two old

Let me in too...

Lucy and Hilda are fantastic mums and very protective

Another little one pushing it's way through to be with it's siblings.

What a fantastic experience sitting and watching the baby chickens and mother hens, interacting together. I am loving the whole experience :)

Garden Update

I have had a lovely two weeks off from work spent with my Dad, Grandma visiting from Tassie, with a lot of time spent in the garden.

Before painting half finished fence, left by previous owners

After

Flower bed planted out with seeds and plants with colourful flowers to attract bees and good bugs

Newly bought and planted purple table grape, hopefully to grow up along the verandah to keep the sun out in summer.

Newly bought and planted chocolate mint and peppermint, to dry and to drink as tea

Corn growing after being raised as seedlings first, not real healthy looking yet

Planted corn seeds direct and here is one shooting up

Lots of little green shoots this time, I dug a trench and filled with seed raising mix, then planted the seeds in the seed raising mix. Much more luck than last time when I planted direct in the soil. None germinated at all.

My first fresh raspberry off my first year raspberry canes.

My poor prune tree isn't looking very healthy, not sure if it is a lack of water, hot weather or winds

Comfrey plant is growing well, but slowly. Something has had a couple of good big bites.

Potato plant blossom

Potatoes with very holey leaves

My first lot of home made compost, looking fantastic, just like soil

Spreading my compost on my veggie beds

I have started my next compost heap, using cardboard around the edges this time, to see if it helps it break down quicker.

My first peach growing and protected by a netting bag

Zucchini plants are doing fantastic and already have a few zucchini's growing

One cucumber plant is taking off

Eggplant plants

Capsicum plants

Tomato plants

Green bean plants doing wonderfully and starting to grow up the fence.

Blue cornflower, with wonderful blue flowers. I have cut many flowers off it to bring inside.

Commonly used words on my blog...

Day 7

Hilda has been sitting on the eggs for 7 days now. I have only seen her off the eggs a few times, once she was free ranging for about 1 hr 30 mins until I got nervous and shooed her back on the eggs.

Since then I have been informed that someone had a hen off the eggs for 12 hours and they still had a few chicks hatch, so I am allowing her more freedom and trying to trust that she knows best :)

I have recently been informed that Lucy and Hilda aren't ISA Browns as the fodder shop told me, but are in fact Rhode Island Reds, unlikely pure. This explaines why Hilda went broody. A source had a Rhode Island Red chicken who was a fantastic mum, so fingers crossed Hilda makes a good Mum.

Only 14 days until I find out!