Welcome To the Family, Little Chick

Well, this has been the longest three weeks of my life.  Been waiting here, wanting to share…and now I can!

We’ve got a new member of the family 🙂 Jasmine, best mama in the world, has a new baby.

Every human chicken mama gets to decide for herself how she wants to get baby chicks into her family.  Mail order? Farm store? Incubator? For me, I’m leaving this important job to the hens.

There is something sacred in the mother/baby bond.  Yes, baby chicks do just fine growing up in a brooder box. Yes, there’s a number of ways to break a broody hen. Yes, handling baby chicks as they grow often leads to chickens that are more “human-friendly”. But for me, once I watched a few broody hens hatch and raise their babies…I was hooked.

And as for chicks, even though they can survive just fine on their own with help from human mamas, I believe they deserve to be mothered by their own species, to be loved, to be clucked at and over, to sleep in the warmth of mama’s wing. Watching a mother hen show her baby how to pick out the best bits of food in the feeder, navigate the big barnyard, the introduction into the flock? Priceless.

Jasmine left her safe space in the yellow coop less and less over the past few days.  Maybe only once.

Jasmine and I have a good friendship.  I’ve been bringing her scratch and extra goodies. She’s been letting me check on the eggs.

When I went in first thing on Sunday, I heard peeping.  Jasmine let me look, and I found a very, very wet baby.  So new and floppy I thought there might be a problem.  But when I checked later in the day (ok, I checked every thirty minutes but did not touch her) I saw that fluffy little baby peeking out.

When I peeked in at evening feeding I was surprised to see that chick had already hopped out of the nest. It looks like she is an adventurer!  Jasmine was clucking and watching her intently. The chick was having a hard time getting back into the nest.  I asked Jasmine if it was ok, then gave the little one a small boost.

I hope she (please, please be a she) has a sibling.  Jasmine has been sitting on three eggs. After candling them, I know one is not viable.  I’ve got my fingers extra-crossed for the other egg.  It is from Lucy, and wouldn’t it be nice to have a little Lucy in the barnyard?

I’ll keep you updated and of course, there will be more cute chick photos in the coming days, I promise 🙂

**Shared at Our Simple Homestead, Thank Goodness It’s Monday and Homestead Hop**