New Chicks

It's a little late in the season, but our grouchy hen who has been sitting on the next growling and pecking at anyone who tries to take her eggs . . .
. . . hatched an adorable baby chick. It's a cross. The father is probably our frankenstein rooster Stitch, who my children found sliced nearly in half by some nameless predator, and my husband sewed up with embroidery thread or dental floss (I can't remember which) while my nine year old daughter held it down, and then he nursed it back to health in a box in our laundry room. We thought he would die, for sure. But, that Stitch is tough! He's a miracle rooster, and truly enjoys being king of the harem here now.

The mother could be any one of the hens, we don't know which. (When a hen is setting, my husband steals and marks a couple of eggs from other chickens and puts them under the setting hen to increase the chances of hatching.) Surrogate(?) momma was sitting on eight or nine eggs and only this little cutie hatched. We'll see what his mama was when he grows up a little. Maybe a Rhode Island Red.

At any rate, we have new babies! Yipee!