Good Things Come in Threes

Last Saturday, I took this picture:

PC2

It is of Pancake Chicken 2, stoically sitting on her batch of eggs. It's down to 3 - she kicked one out a week or so ago. I have no idea how chickens know when a chick isn't developing, but they do and they don't waste any resources on trying to hatch a dead egg. (although they will go broody and sit on golf balls, fake eggs, etc. Go figure)

The next day, I went out and peered into the hutch at about 8 am and sat very quietly to try to tell if I could hear an pipping sounds. I couldn't.

Aparrently my hearing is bad, because an hour later I asked the Acorn to go feed th critters, and next thing I know I hear an excited "THE BABIES ARE HERE!" over and over.

Last time we missed this hatch by about a day, but this time we couldn't have missed it by more than an hour. When we went out to inspect, the little bitties were very much very wobbly on their legs, and their down was still slightly damp. So cute!

First we took the babies out to see if they were ok

Then we took mama out to get her out of the way. Then we checked to make sure there wasn't an unhatched egg we didn't know about (there wasn't)

Then we stuck mama hen back in and let the bitties go back themselves

*heartmelt*

A day later, they're zooming around cheep-cheeping, just like they should be. It never ceases to amaze me when animal babies left alone do exactly what they're supposed to. It kind of restores my sense of right and wrong in the world...

And a bonus video of the chicks going back in under their mama for the first time: