We are parents now

Our chicken eggs started hatching about two weeks ago. For a week I was holed up in the house with five new babies, going out of my mind with stress, taking them out and putting them back in the incubator because I was scared they weren't ready for the big world outside. Mostly they were fine on their own, but I had to be midwife of the littlest one, who became stuck to the shell. This is Milky Jo, our first born, and most beautiful to my mind.


Falke came next, the day after the Hawks won the grand final, so we named her for the German word for hawk. (It sounded the prettiest.)



Zissou didn't make it. She is recovering here from an aquatic adventure in the incubator. She got stuck on her back on a plate of water, and I had to warm her back to life with my breath. In this picture she is lying on her tummy, exhausted, but alive. We bonded, but the next day, I found her laying silent in the brooder. I think she had the same problem under the light. Got stuck on her back and couldn't move away. She lies under our passionfruit now.