This past Sunday, Sally and I became grandparents – in a manner of speaking. Our favorite hen, Chicken Little, hatched the first of what we were hoping would be a whole litter of baby chickens. We started out with five fertilized eggs that we picked up from our friends at Yonder Way Farms in Fayeteville, Texas. However, one precious little chick is all we got.
Our precious little chick on the day she was hatched.
And that is just fine with us. We really don’t need a lot of chickens at our house. Our coop is not set up for more than six to eight birds. In fact, this is why we waited so long to let one of our hens sit. We didn’t want a crowded coop.
Sally and I decided to let Chicken Little sit for a couple of reasons. First, she is the hen at the bottom of the pecking order. It is hard for us to watch the constant pecking and pushing around that she is forced to endure. We read on a blog that a batch of chicks had a way of bringing out the mother in all of the hens. So, we are hoping that this little chick will make the other girls treat Chicken Little a whole lot better. At the very least we are hoping it will prevent, or at least delay, the bad treatment that Chicken Little is forced to endure.
Our baby is four days old and already getting pin feathers on her wings!
While Sally and I think Chicken Little is the sweetest, bestest hen of the bunch, she does have one little problem – she gets broody – A LOT. In the past few months she has become broody four different times. Each time this happened we were forced to quarantine her in a metal cage for a few days. During that time she didn’t eat or drink much. Plus it was just hard for us to watch. So, since she is such a good girl –and she REALLY wanted to sit – we decided to let her.
Chicken Little is such a good mother! Here, she and baby explore their world.
While we had hoped for a few more chicks, we are absolutely thrilled with our one little baby. She truly is precious and Chicken Little is proving to be a great little mother. Plus, the other hens really do seem to be impressed (and they are treating her a little better). They keep coming up and looking at the baby. When they get too close Chicken Little blows up her feathers and clucks and they politely walk off. I truly hope that that this new baby raises her mom’s standing in the flock!
BTW, this post has been shared on The HomeAcre Hop and the Homestead Barn Hop #173. Be sure to check them out. They are full of great posts from homesteaders across the web.
I enjoy you articles in the Texas Gardener Magazine. I have a question or two about the article on homemade wine. You wrote that if any signs of mold appear to pull the liquid off immediately. Do you mean to siphon it or dip the liquid out of the mold? Second question- does the wine have to be in wine bottles or could it just be poured into mason jars to store it for a while? Thank you. Sandra McFall
Glad you enjoy Texas Gardener. I think it is one of the best gardening magazines on the market. If you get mold siphon it off. You are trying to get rid of the mold spores. I siphon into another container to let the fermentation continue. It will not hurt to filter it but if you are able to siphon from an area that does not have mold you should be ok. Once the wine is done you can put it in a mason jar. The reason you seal wine is to keep air away from it. A sealed mason jar will probably do a better job of that than a cork. Just make sure the wine is done. I have bottled wine too soon and had it blow out corks. If you put it in a mason jar too soon I am afraid it could break the jars. Best of luck and thanks for reading!