the Saturday surprise

Geese eggs take 27-30 days to hatch.

When our first hen went broody, I counted out 27 days on the calendar. I was fully expecting an egg or two of the four to hatch this coming weekend.

But I forgot one minor but important detail. Chicken eggs hatch in 21 days.

Saturday was busy with yardwork and a few errands. When I went out to gather eggs and check the feed, I suddenly stopped near the door and exclaimed to Bobby "I hear a lot of chirping!!" Imagine my surprise when I open the door and see a little fuzzball very close to the door, and another near the nesting box. I quickly closed the door so it wouldn't fall out, waited for Bobby to get closer, and we opened the door again. We saw not two, but three!  Then we realized a fourth one was hiding behind the curtain.

This the 4th time we've had a hen hatch our eggs, but the first time we've ever had a 100% hatch rate!  I know the next two months they will be prone to getting smooshed, pecked, or snatched by a hawk, but we are so pleased with how well this Momma hen is doing.  She's kept them warm, protected them from the other chickens, already had them outside the house and pen today, managed to get them back inside the pen and the house, and is breaking up corn for them in addition to the starter feed we put out for them. (We had to make an emergency run to Hudson's in Clayton Sunday - the only ag supply store open on Sunday - to get the starter feed as we were not ready for them!)  We were not expecting more chicks this year, but they're here. There's another hen who has been trying to set, but so far we've not let her have any eggs. If I can get the pen to the other coop repaired I might move her and some eggs there and let her see what she can do...maybe.