Anyhoo, let's get back to Miss Broody Buttercup. I let her try to brooding a clutch of eggs back in January, but nobody hatched :( I don't know who was more disappointed, me or Buttercup. That silly chicken really wanted to be a momma and was very reluctant to stop brooding, even after 45 days. After I was sure nobody was going to hatch, I reluctantly opened the eggs. All had developed to about the 2 week mark, but had died after that. I think it was just too cold, despite a very dedicated wanna be mamma.
Like me, Miss Buttercup doesn't give up easily and come spring, she was back at it. I gave her 10 eggs to sit on and exactly 21 days later 11 chicks hatched. No, that wasn't a typo... I gave her 10 and 11 chicks hatched. I was pretty certain I counted correctly, so I can only guess I had a little "helper" slip her an extra egg when I wasn't looking. Anyway, I'm just so impressed that she went from a 0% success rate to a 100% success rate!
Oh boy, is she a happy hen now.
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