Wins and Losses

You know how they say 'don't count your chickens before they're hatched?' I had a feeling that we weren't going to see a big outcome from the eggs that Celine has been sitting on.  We didn't have space to give her the privacy she wanted, and the other two girls have been pushing her aside because they *need* to lay in the same nesting box - not the one right beside her! I merely wanted to give her something to focus her attention on, since she seemed so darned determined to set.

She is still sitting on 5 eggs, which I doubt will hatch out for any number of reasons. This morning when I went to check on her and give her breakfast in bed, I could hear a muffled peeping.

 

Egg number six hatched into a tiny chick.

 

I had to move Celine aside - and she was not pleased - to get a good look at this little fluffball, and have now moved them to a small dog crate in a mobile dog run, lined top and bottom with chicken wire, topped in a tarp for protection from the elements and predators (and perhaps the other 2 chickens).  My neighbour laughed and waved me off when I apologized for my scrappy chicken/chick run, which she can see from her porch.  I moved the unhatched eggs into the 'nest' as well, and will let Celine have them for 2 more days before I remove them and let her focus on her foster chick.  Hopefully, her instincts will extend beyond keeping an egg warm, or I will have to take over as mother. Chicks can survive without food or water for three days after hatching (having eaten their way out of the shell), but I will hopefully see Celine encourage the little one to drink some water and eat the chick starter I have placed in the run with them.

 

While I was out in the yard, I donned my bee veil and gloves, and hesitantly opened the hive. 

 

No new brood, no sign of a queen.  I think we've lost the colony.  Still an amazing experience, and we're not giving up!