A Surprise in the Barn

Delaware hen and her 15 chicks

The hay loft in the barn has been full of hay since the second cutting of the pasture in August.  We've only had to climb up there to retrieve hay for the goats so I hadn't noticed that there was a hen laying on a nest.  One morning last week I went in the barn and heard a distinct cheeping sound coming from the loft.  At first I thought it was from the bats that have colonized the rafters of the loft.  I climbed up the ladder and saw lovely sight: one of the Delaware hens was moving around the barn pointing out things to eat to her brood of chicks.

 I ran immediately into the house and shouted, "There be chicks in the barn!"  The kids came out with me, we grabbed some chicken scratch, and we sat up in the hayloft watching the hen and chicks running around for at least a half hour.  None of us had ever seen this before because most of our chickens up until now have not had the inclination nor the space to brood their own chicks.  Having the hen raise her own chicks certainly makes more sense than humans doing it!

Two weeks after the chicks were discovered we decided to move them out to "The Chick House", which is a small henhouse not big enough for our 35 laying hens.  We put a fence around an area where they can forage bugs and plants but not be bothered by the other chickens and turkeys.  Below is a video that I took of them outside with their mother.