Chirp, chirp

After 3 months of setting, one of our 5 broody hens finally managed to hatch a chick!  There were some unfortunate issues with kids taking eggs after the hens had been setting on them for a couple of weeks or more.  We finally solved them by marking the eggs they were supposed to leave with big X's on both sides.

This morning I went out to the chicken coop and found this little one running around on the floor.

He had at least a 2 foot drop from the nesting boxes to the floor.  He's a survivor.  I scooped him up and showed him to all of the hens, but no one seemed interested.

"No, no thank you.  Not my baby."

Two of the hens had broken egg shells, but both looked more like they had been cracked and eaten than hatched.  I took him to the brooder box.  He was warmed up in no time, but lonely.

I finally decided that one of the gray's should be his mother.  They've been setting the longest.  So we moved the one who had a broken shell, along with all of her eggs, to the brooder box, where she promptly had a fit.  She settled down after a bit, and settled in on top of her eggs, with the little peeper tucking himself in under her as well.

She seems to have accepted him without a problem.  Hopefully she'll be a good mommy, even if he wasn't hers.