Big Mama’s at it again

*Sorry, no Menu Plan Monday today, I’m having a bit of recipe block (is there such a thing) and I really wanted to share this with you guys.*

What else can you do with a bucket full of chicks?

But put them under the best broody hen!  Remember Big Mama?  Last year I snuck 21 chicks under her after she hatched 3 of her own.  So this year I thought, lets go bigger!

So same thing happened, Big Mama went broody (which means she started sitting on a clutch of eggs to hatch) and I subsequently put about 35 eggs in the incubator, coincidence?  I think not.  I did this on purpose!

So as more and more chicks hatched, I took them by the bucket full.

And slowly put them under big Mama’s massive fluff.

She would cluck and squirm a little, as if counting in her head, what the hell’s happening here?

But soon all 33 chicks were safely tucked in, around, and under big mama.

The next day they slowly emerged from the crate, and big Mama showed them how to eat, drink and scratch around.

And if another chicken got too close, big Mama would fluff out all her feathers as if to say, I dare you to get a little closer.  Though she is very gentle with me, she knows who feeds her.

It’s extremely hard to get all the chicks in one picture.

But you get the idea.

I’ve sold 12 of the chicks already (and she never even knew).  As far as what I am going to do with the other 21 chicks, only time will tell.

The boys, of course, love having chicks again.

It really never gets old.  I can vouch for that.