I let Madonna and her chicks out to explore for awhile while I was working on their pen, yesterday. The babies are SO cute! I forgot to mention that the remaining egg was laying outside of the nest on Sunday. It was opened and there was no baby. The lining appeared real thick but no s sign of a chick. Ah well ~ two chicks are perfect anyway.
My beautiful Madonna enjoyed having room to stretch and took a moment to soak up some sun. 
Then busied herself teaching those adorable little chicks to hunt and peck and scratch for their food!
I took Marilyn's advice (from the comments of an earlier post) and think I might just have two little GIRL chicks! Both have quite noticeable feathers on their wing tips at 4 days of age ~ which Marilyn says is more typical of female fowl. I also did the test that was suggested by the "poultry guy" at Farm & Fleet...I held each chick by it's legs ~ suspended in mid-air. Supposedly, the females will hang limply and the males will pull up into a half-curl, like a gymnast. BOTH of my chicks hung!! I suppose I'm being silly, but I'm really thinking they're both girls.... ;-)
My ewe lambs (not to mention the EWES!) are being neglected. I'm so desperate to get a safe pen built for the chickens that I haven't taken any time to just sit with the sheep! Hopefully, I'll finish the pen on Friday (or Saturday, after work) and then I can focus on my sheep again....DREAM says...
..."It's about time!"Yes it is, Dreamer ~ yes it is!
;-)
The chicks are quite different in color and markings, aren't they? Will they end up looking quite different as adults, as well? Or will they both end up looking like their mom?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your very kind words on my blog. Life gets a bit 'exciting' at times, doesn't it? But that's when you really learn to appreciate other people. There are an awful lot of 'quiet heroes' out there, people whose courage or whose kindness aren't the sort that get written up in the news, but who are absolutely essential to keeping the world spinning on its axis.
Which is all just a way of saying thanks again, your supportive words were truly appreciated!
TWO is the perfect number! :-) What a wonderfully cute little family. I continue to hope that they are hen chicks, and that all your tests are accurate!! How is the chicken pen going? I can build allot of things, but it usually takes me about ten times longer than someone that knows what they are doing....
ReplyDeleteTammy
Dear Tammy,
ReplyDeletePlease do not ask how the chicken pen is coming....
;-)
Nancy,
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to see your chicken house, my husband is building our right now too. I will post pictures when it is done.