Update- we have life!

Posting this as an update to a previous post which I also edited for anyone watching that- happy news and a wild story!

Sad news first- it got cold last night after I went to sleep and one of the chicks passed, they weren’t far enough under mama to dry off and get warm- but, the second chick is happy and healthy! And so cute! And the three eggs she was still sitting on are fertilized and very far along but after candling them it’s definitely going to need about a week-ish for them to be ready- part of the joys of having other chickens put their eggs under her lol 😂 just for now I’m having those three incubate inside and when it gets close to hatching day I’ll put them out with mama again since the chicks didn’t have any shrink wrap issues at all at least-

More good news- managed to get her in the pen I set up! She’d been so against it when I tried last night, so after not being able to move her last night I let her stay in her original nest with some fabric over the entrance to keep the other chickens out and in the morning I covered the pen with a tarp to make it super dark to try and help her stay calm- I was so stressed last night about getting her to like the pen, she’d been flapping about and jumping at the bars to get back to her original nest spot even though I’d put her nest in the pen with her!

This is where the wild story comes in-

My mom suggested I airlift franky in the nest into the pen. No way that would work right? She’d flap about and panic and hurt the baby! But I decided in my sick (I also happened to catch a rough cold today) sleep deprived brain to give it a shot. I moved the eggs into the incubator and had mom hold the chick and keep them warm, then proceeded to slide the nest out from its box with Franky still sitting on it like pulling a cake from an oven- it’s one of those nest pallets you can get from the store that’s glued to some paper so it stuck together pretty well-

And surprisingly- she didn’t panic at all! She was looking around all confused about why she was moving, but she didn’t get up! She stayed sat! And slowly I knelt to the ground and slid her into the kennel. She did get up then and start getting upset because the baby was calling out for mama, but after my mom put the baby with Franky they settled right in! And bonus- the tarp keeps the kennel pretty toasty! I do not recommend this- idk if it would’ve worked if franky wasn’t such a docile sweet girl but idk 🤷‍♀️ it might be worth a shot if you’re having issues like I did!

It’s nice and roomy too. Not huge, but big enough for her to stretch and move even with the food and the water dishes.

I am feeling very good about this now. I’ll probably keep them in there till the chicks a bit bigger, letting them out occasionally for supervised walks. But I’m very hopeful and happy now, and am so glad to have this learning experience. Franky is DEFINITELY going to be a great chicken mama, and will be giving her lots of babies in the future!