It took a long time, but the little yellow hen finally hatched out a couple of sweet babies chicks. Here they are having sips of water with Momma watching on.

Only two hatched out of 12 eggs. That's the lowest hatch rate we've ever had. But I'm determined to allow the hens to hatch their own chicks without any interference. It's hard to take a step back. I have a friend who has offered the use of her incubator so we could actually replace our whole flock in just one summer. But my goal is to raise chickens that know how to raise their own families from start to finish, even if it means only hatching one chick at a time. I did purchase several new chicks this past spring because I just haven't found the right combination of winter egg layers and broody hens. So far we've had at least one or two hens go broody each summer but I've not found a breed that will lay more than 8 months out of the year. Our winters are both cold and dark. But it's probably the dark that limits the hens laying rate as more than the cold.

 

So here are two more sweet things to enhance our flock. It will be a big celebration if we find out they are both little pullets (.....instead of roos. We have A LOT of roos already!).

Only time will tell!