One of our chickens just hatched four cute, fluffy baby chicks. It is nothing short of a miracle. I am always amazed at birth. I remember when I was training to be a midwife I would marvel at the miracle of birth, this tiny newborn human wiggling in my hands as it takes its first breath. It is a sacred moment and I was always humbled. Seeing these newborn chicks I feel the same way. I'm used to going to the feed store and stuffing six or eight chicks in a box, hearing their peeps as I drive home. But I didn't marvel. The feed store baby chicks were hatched in an incubator, removed from any maternal nurturing. These new chicks were patiently cared for by their mother who forgo food and water and her favorite dust bath to sit on the eggs. She sat on them for endless weeks and I often wondered if they would ever hatch. We wondered how long a chicken would lay on eggs before she realized they would never hatch, if they had not been fertilized or if somehow all the embryos had died. Then suddenly, there she was with her little fluffy brood behind her one morning last week, proudly strutting around the backyard. Because I am maternal by nature, I couldn't help becoming their second mother and cooing over them and worrying about them. Where should I keep them so they will be safe? What if a hawk flies down and snatches one up? What will the other hens do to these babies? What will they eat? I was so used to taking over all mothering duties that I didn't trust the one mother who instinctively knows what's best - their chicken mother. She is a wonderful mother. She hides them under her at the least provocation and fluffs out and hisses if you get to close. At night they are safely tucked away in a hole she has made. During the day they follow her around the pasture, watching her and learning how to be chickens. It's so cute to see these little chicken miniatures following her lead and scratching and pecking at this and that on the ground.
Since we needed to give away our rooster, I'm hoping that we have at least one rooster from the four. Then, if a neighbor is bothered by the rooster and asks us if we have a rooster we can innocently say, "No, we gave our rooster away and we haven't bought any new ones this year." And then, to shift blame I'll say (trying not to smile) "You know, my neighbor next door has chickens, maybe it's one of hers..."
