Tuesday, May 24, 2011

walk with me, baby steps

It is hard for me to stop watching the mother hen with her chicks. They are very entertaining and yet, calming to watch.

The mother hen is an Aracuna Bantam chicken, so she is smaller than the standard size chicken. She can fit all of them under her wings when it rains. We have her set up in the old rabbit pen for now, so they are safe at night. During the day she takes them for short walks and then rests with them under her wings. ...they will grow fast...more mouths to feed! Our flock has now doubled in size. The big girls were locked in the run again today...we decided to let the little ones get the lay of the land before we let the others out to range. If the mother lets out a "danger cluck" because a hawk flies over, the chicks scatter and run under the row boat. Seems like a good plan to me!

Here is a short movie of them on one of their walks...See if you can count how many chicks we have...

and yes those are cherrios...multi-grain of course...mammas favorite treat...

11 comments:

Gingerbreadshouse7 said...

Aw! they are so cute, I'm eating my heart out I want some chickens so badly, but alas! HOA doesn't allow it.
I'm too old to make a move :o( So I'll have to be content to have Birds as my chickens :o( (best I can do ).

Valerie said...

Hmmmm...do a count an even dozen? Wow...I'm glad humans can't have that many infants at one time to care for! Thant would be exhausting!!

Wow, cheerios are a cross species phenomena? They certainly are a human standard in our church. I used to clean the cherrios out of the pews after services.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Oh be still my heart. I would get nothing accomplished if I had them here. They are amazing little creatures. Those teeny legs propell them right through the grass. I can't stop smiling. :) I loved hearing the house wren in the background. At first I thought it might be the one outside my window.

cyndy said...

Hi Lisa!

LOL...yes...they ARE a diversion...I keep the binoculars handy so I can see them from the cabin window....

cyndy said...

Valerie! You are correct! An even dozen! And cheerios ARE a cross species phenomena!! A favorite with mothers everywhere :0)

I remember my mother would send me out to play with a bunch of cherrios and raisins wrapped up in a piece of wax paper. After I ate the snack, the wax paper was good for shining up the sliding board! woot!

cyndy said...

Ginny, they are cute now...but wait till they get a little bigger...esp the roosters!

Sue said...

They're so CUUUUUTE! Thanks for sharing-

judy said...

that was fun, thank you!

Cathy said...

Ohhhh. I do so love watching baby chicks!!

Simple joys of life are the best!

Now, you need ducklings!

Damara said...

Love the cute little chicks! I know people who keep chickens and one day I'm going to get either quail or chickens (or maybe eventually both).

thecrazysheeplady said...

Too. Darn. Cute!

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