Almost seven

We have five little peeping chicks!

Four are black with variations and one white.

The white one is probably one of Jenny's own

as she is a bared leghorn.

Jenny didn't notice when I popped the first one back.

Another hatched but died soon after.

It was covered in egg yolk.

Between 15 and 19 days of gestation

the remaining egg sac is absorbed into the chick's body.

This provides nutrition in the first couple of days

and is why the hen often doesn't begin to teach them to eat

straight away.

Either the yolk was not absorbed or the chick was

injured during hatching.

This morning, Jenny was still steadfastly sitting

on her nest, more than 40 hours since the first hatching.

I thought it was wise to remove the 

remaining eggs so she could get on with being a mum.

I checked, none of them was viable.

One had begun to hatch but hadn't made it.

Below are some pictures of the chick.

It is amazing how well packed they are.

(But don't scroll down if you feel sqeamish

about such things)

This one shows the egg tooth.

This is the correct positioning is with the head under the right wing.
There isn't much room to move.  Just a bit of scratching with
the egg tooth to break through (it had done this).

So little.!

Almost