Banty the 2nd Update

Happy Monday, friends!

Just wanted to share an update about Banty the 2nd. She was very diligent about staying on her nest (12 eggs), but some frigid air moved into our area, causing temps to dip down into the single digits, with wind chills below 0.

We knew that her little babies would probably not survive the cold once they hatched, so we brought her and her nesting box inside near the wood stove.

We didn't have to wait long before hearing a "peep, peep" coming from the nesting box. The first chick hatched on Valentine's Day....healthy, active, and very loud. :) 

Another chick hatched the next day, but was smaller and not as active as the first one. The next morning, I found this..

The runt didn't make it through the night.  It was a sad morning, but such is life on our little farm. The children have had to learn first-hand that death is a part of living.

Another egg  hatched part of the way, but the chick died before completely hatching out of the egg. The other 9 eggs never hatched at all. So out of 12 eggs, we got one chick. Not a very good average, but the first-hatched chick is doing well. We named him Speck for 2 reasons: 1. he has a black speck on top of his head, and 2. he is as small as a speck.  :)

Speck will stay inside near the wood stove until he (or she - we're still not sure of the gender) is big enough to join the other Bantams outside. But for now, he enjoys "doing school" with the children..

And sitting on Asher's shoulder.. (he thinks he's a parrot - lol)

And what about Hoodie? Well, she left her nest 2 weeks before the eggs were due to hatch. I guess she wasn't ready to be a mama yet.

Have a great week!  :)