Baby Rosy Bourkes, June 18, 2011

Cherry had four eggs, with three hatches so far. The third egg hatched just moments before I peeked into her box and saw the little wet guy. Grabbing my camera, I shot these two photos before she covered the babies.

Just hatched chick is at bottom of photo, under Mom's neck.
 He's still wet. Two fuzzy siblings are above him.

I had to hold the camera to the side and couldn't look through the viewfinder, so guessed at what I'd get. The first photo isn't framed well ... part of the newly hatched chick isn't showing.The 2nd photo is framed better, but sadly blurry.  I went back for another, but she had them hidden.

Several empty shells nearby. Hen has three chicks under
her chin and one egg left to hatch. Darkest baby is still wet.

The egg shells will probably disappear soon. I think they provide extra calcium for the mothers, as they don't typically reappear on the cage floor or anywhere else.

Cherry is an experienced hen and always does well raising her young. She's confident and isn't frightened when we peek in at her.