Family Portrait

Here is my attack hen (see previous post) and her brood, in a much calmer mood. I left her alone all day and when I went out for evening chores she had led all her babies into the miking stall and was showing them how to scratch for bits of grain. There are 14 chicks! Sadly, I  found three more chicks that must have gotten separated from the group and perished. Pretty hard to keep track of 17 chicks. I wish I had checked on them earlier.

Since we aren't miking now, I closed the family in the stall for the night and provided feed and water. There they will be protected and corralled, and not underfoot when I am hauling out bales of hay in the morning.