(Mostly) warm and fuzzy

Turns out I know nothing about hatching chicks.  They don't break out of their shell and then start hollering; rather, it's the other way around: first they pip, then they break free.

Anyhoo, as of 8:20 this morning I can confirm that we've had three chicks successfully hatch.  Two are doing great, but one didn't make it.  We aren't sure if Phoebe committed infanticide or if the other chickens found it.  Phoebe had some fluff on her beak when I checked on her last night, but she was also eating the shavings in the nest, so I assumed she'd eaten some of the feathers she'd lined the nest with.  I figured she was hungry so I brought her some scratch, but she wouldn't eat it out of my hand.  I sprinkled it in a corner of the nest within her reach and decided to hope for the best.  I could hear little chirps, but tucking my hand under her sides, I found only intact eggs.  I decided against moving her off the nest and endangering the eggs that were potentially very close to hatching.  "They're pipping," I figured, and went inside to bed.  Then, seeing the fallout this morning, I lifted Phoebe's butt and found two chicks. Yay!  We tucked them into the brooder, quickly made plans for the other chickens (which involved kicking them out of that side of the barn, putting their water outside, and opening the other side of the barn for them if they wanted shade or somewhere to roost - we'll hunt for the eggs tonight), and brought the chicks back to Phoebe... who proceeded to peck them.  I had hoped that she was trying to scoot them back under her wing, but she was starting to peck harder, so we put the little ones back in the brooder.

Jordan will keep an eye on Phoebs during the day, and move any new chicks over to the brooder as soon as he finds them.

What we'll do differently next time:

If we decide to let Phoebe hatch another clutch, we'll move her to the brooder pen as soon as she starts setting.  This will isolate the nest from the other hens, and will (hopefully) minimize any losses once they start hatching.  She's a great brooder, but at this point, we aren't sure if she's a good Mom.

We could also pick up a mechanical brooder when we decide to next hatch.  This has multiple advantages: we pick the timing, we monitor for humidity and temperature, and the chickens can't sneak into the machine and lay more eggs at odd intervals.  We're home each day (of course), so we can easily handle the turning of the eggs; alternately, we can splurge on a fancy brooder that automatically turns them.