broody: wishing or inclined to incubate eggs
He's been so excited about this broody hen...Brodie reading his "homesteading with chickens" book every day, watching her, caring for her, taking her off her nest for food and water, drawing the development of the chicks by day.
She wanted to nest, so we let her, seeing that Brodie was so highly motivated to coordinate the whole deal. And sure enough, on day 21 just as he had hoped (and prayed) for....the first 3 babies hatched!! Oh, the cheers of sheer joy!!
Unfortunately, our resident kingsnake found the babies right away, so we had no choice but to move them to the safety of Aida's little coop next to the enclosure they'd been in all month. Although we didn't like moving them, we needed to protect them, and in the meantime that meant we got to see the babies up close briefly during the transfer...which was more traumatizing for us than the hen I think. They were so adorable and tiny!!
Mama hen got right back to sitting on her remaining eggs along with her 3 little chicks once we got her all situated. Brodie tended to her so carefully, just as he has all month. I'm so happy for him that his experiment worked out so well!!
This is science at it's finest.
No need for a field trip, just good old fashioned homeschool/farmschool right here at...home.
"Blessed shall be...the young of your flock."
Deuteronomy 28:4