They have hatched! Those eggs that got lost in the mail and arrived a day late. Out of seven eggs three emerged victorious and I mean victorious, it's a battle to get out of an egg.
Incubating eggs, was hard, not the actual waiting, but during the time they were pecking open the egg shell and emerging and not being able to remove them from the incubator until they all had hatched and were dry. Wynken was the first and he or she is the largest, Blynken, second and the next largest, Nod was last and is the smallest. After a day of rest and falling on their backs and looking up at you, just laying there... I am sorry I missed that picture, it is a treasure I will keep in my mind the rest of my life.
By the third day they are so present, they look right at you. I say drink your water and peck with my finger on their water trough and off they run and drink their water. They are the same with their food, pecking with my finger in their food, they come running to peck also. It is a natural instinct they immediately have. Playing tag with the wood shavings is their first game, one will have a piece in their beak and the others will chase him or her about. I will not know for about six weeks who is a rooster and who is a hen.
No one told me and I have not run across information that prepared me for how soundly they sleep. At first you wonder, are they alright, they are, they just sleep deeply and often. They are growing right before our eyes, feathers have already emerged on Wynken's wings, really little ones!
To all the little ones that are arriving this spring! What little ones have arrived near you?
~ Deb
P.S. The baby wild birds in the front door nest are doing great, I think there are three there also!
*Last time in Barn Stories: Nest Update
