I haven’t said anything because I didn’t want to jinx it, but when Sel went broody I decided to let her hatch a few eggs. A few days ago Zeste began to get a bit shrieky, and was walking around ba-dupping so I had a feeling she was going to go broody too. I didn’t expect to find her cozied up next to Sel though! These two do everything together, have never fought a day in their life, and they actually seem pretty happy in their shared nest so I’ve decided to see how things turn out. Their due date is between the 19th and 23rd.

Only one of them bites when broody. You can probably guess which one that is.

There were originally three eggs, but when I candled them one was empty and had to be removed or it could rot and explode. The other two, however, are showing pretty clear veining!

In the above photo you can see the air sac at the bottom, which will expand over time and is what the chick breaks into first during hatching. Air sacs enlarge regardless of whether or not an embryo is developing, which is why older boiled eggs are flat on one end (and why older eggs float). The circular shadow you can see in the picture below is the yolk. So cool!

This egg is a-okay!

I’m trying to resist pestering them too much, but here’s some close-ups of two very offended hens.