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!

Day 0

I have picked up 7 fertile Speckled Sussex eggs, from a nice man from Hahndorf (he threw in an extra egg). He has a dozen in an incubator (to replace the 10 a fox ate this week) and he thinks he should get 11 chicks out of 12 eggs... It will be interesting to see how fertile the eggs are if Hilda sits for the 21 days.

Hilda is here now sitting on 7 eggs, it felt strange trying to push them under her. After a couple of eggs she kind of adjusted herself and that was it. She has been sitting for about 4 days now, I actually haven't seen her out of the box.

I am missing my fresh eggs at the moment, so I have made a laying box for Lucy. Two boxes gaffa taped together and a hole cut in, but when I tried to push Lucy in it was a tight fit lol.

Take two! You can see on the top where I covered up the first hole and put the box lengthwise up and cut another hole. Fingers crossed I have a freshly laid egg tomorrow in here.

I moved Hilda and her clutch of eggs onto the floor and Lucy's laying box on the shelf.

Now each day is a waiting game to see if Hilda stay's the distance. Most of the people I have spoken to haven't had an ISA Brown go broody before, so we will see what happens...

Oh the man I bought the eggs from said that today is Day 0 as it was late when I put the eggs under and tomorrow will be Day 1, 21 days to go :)

Hilda's a little broody

Lucy laid her first egg on the 13 October, Lucy's egg is on the left, Hilda's on the right. It's amazing how much colour difference there is
Hilda has been sitting the last couple of days, I'm assuming that means she has gone broody. Isa Browns don't normally go broody as it has been bred out of them, so that they keep laying eggs. I am hoping to pick up half a dozen fertile Speckled Sussex Eggs tomorrow night $10, to put under Hilda and see what happens.

Lucy is now all on her own, free ranging...