Signs of Spring... In December!

  We had a warm November this year, and one of my Buff Orpington hens went broody with a clutch of 25 eggs nestled atop a pile of straw bales.

  The blessed event occurred on December 4th with 17 peeping chicks peeking out from their mother's wings on the following day.  They were greeted by freezing temperatures, so I brought them in the house to stay warm near the wood stove.

  After a week, I moved the brood outside to a pen, with a brooder lamp for supplemental heat.

  They are 25 days old today, and all 17 are alive and well!

  Here are a few family portraits from their first week...