Wednesday, April 21, 2010

" OCTOMOM WILLOW "

Good Morning Blogger Buddies!! First off, thanks for the e-mails wondering if I'm OK ?
Yes, I am, we have just been busy as bees from daylight to dark trying to build the beds for my courtyard and get them planted along with finishing the vegetable garden planting.
However the most exciting thing was the birth of our first baby chicks a week ago today!








If you remember........Madame Willow took a notion to become a Mom back in the last week of March..........

So I marked 4 eggs for her to sit on. The week before they were due to hatch, one got cracked.
So then there were 3. They were due to hatch on April 14th. On April 13th I went to gather the eggs and 1 of the marked ones was MISSING ! No sign of a shell or anything! We concluded that the only thing that could have gotten it was a snake! YUK! Poor Willow! She must have been so frightened!! :(
On April 14th...........we got 2 baby chicks! We decided to go to our local feed store and buy 6 more Rhode Island Red chicks for her to raise. That night we slipped them under her and she woke up the next day as Madame Willow, The Octomom !!!!!!!!

I haven't been able to get a shot of all 8 in a bunch yet but I hope you enjoy these........




We have her a separate place on the ground to raise them...............




They are so curious................





They came here knowing how to scratch & eat starter feed.............






They like to ride piggy-back too.............








She is just an AWESOME mom!









Willow tells them to run for cover as I'm too close for comfort.................










they are soooooooooo sweet...........











Here are 6, the other 2 are still up under her............
She looks like a big round Watermelon when she gets them all beneath her........
We are just having the most fun with our first chicks..........
I will do a later post on all our yard work! You won't believe what all we have done!

























16 comments:

Vicki Lane said...

Awww! They are so cute. We have a broody hen-- we'll see how she does!

Becca's Dirt said...

They are adorable. Madame Willow is a good momma. Can't wait to see what you've done to the place. Have a good day.

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

You crack me up, "Octomom Willow!!!" What cute little balls of fuzziness they are. Good job Willow. Great pics girl!

Ya'll have a wonderful Wednesday filled with blessings!!!

Marguerite said...

Octomom Willow is so sweet to take care of the adopted chicks, too! Sounds like you've been keeping busy and I'm looking forward to seeing your courtyard! Great pics!

BlueRidge Boomer said...

Cute....cute....cute!!

Enjoy'um.....

Tess Kincaid said...

That's just the sweetest thing ever. Congratulations, Madame Willow!

Deb Shucka said...

Such sweet pictures! I love your chickens.

Rosaria Williams said...

How cute is that? Lovely! Yes, you've been busy.

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

What cuties! It's looking a lot like spring! :)

Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder

Tiffany Norris said...

Very cool! Does she treat her adopted chicks the same as her biological ones? :)

crochet lady said...

Love those cute little peeps! I've never really seen a hen with it's little ones. When we had chicks we always got them through a mail order company.

Kay Dennison said...

Cute!!!!!!!!!

I did notice you've been gone but I figured you were busy because I have been, too!

NitWit1 said...

Nothing spells Spring like new births! Darling chickies.

You have been so busy. Read a book at SIL in NC. Gotta find its correct title and do a little review on it.

NCmountainwoman said...

Oh, I love those little biddies. Great idea to add some "kids" to her group.

A Brit in Tennessee said...

Awww how sweet are those little chicks...
Willow is a very patient mum, even giving them piggy back rides :)
Looks like you've been busy, and hopefully back on track after your sickness.
Can't wait for the courtyard to be completed, you'll have to rename your farm if you carry on doing improvements to SwiftWater Manor.
Hugs,
Jo

Janet, said...

they are sooooo cute! Brings back memories of when we had chicks when I was a child.