a man and his hoe

every day is a good day

Tag: interracial lesbian mothers

  • Summer Musings

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    Every evening, many of the chickens end the day grazing on the grass next to the chicken yard. This time of year when the sun sets after 9 p.m. and dusk lingers until past 10 p.m., the chickens take their time getting to bed, especially the younger ones.

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    Morning colors this time of year are so soft yet brilliant. Getting up early is the thing to do this time of year.

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    The two hens sharing the two chicks continue their shared co-parenting. At times, each one takes one of the chicks for some “quality time”. At other times they are side by side. It’s interesting observing them. Will this unusual child rearing make a difference for the chicks? Probably not, but time will tell.

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  • More on the Interracial Lesbian Moms

    The black and white hens which are raising the two chicks seem to be OK with the situation. The two chicks go back and forth between the two mothers. The two mothers haven’t gotten into any big fights. Sometimes if two mother hens get too close, they can get quite testy with each other. Mother hens can be fierce protectors of their chicks. I once had to rescue a chick which got trapped and the mother hen, thinking I was after the chick, attacked me ferociously. She came flying with her claws in front of her. I managed to rescue the chick without getting beaten to death by its mother, but barely.

    In the pictures below, you can see one of the chicks go from the black mother to the white one. So far, they haven’t ventured too far from their sleeping spot. They’ve taken the chicks to a sequoia tree close to the chicken yard. It will be interesting to see what happens when they start taking the chicks a long ways from the chicken yard.

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    Since the two hens bed down side by side at night, they must be used to each other. Chickens mellow out in the evening. Roosters who fight each other during the day, will often roost next to each other at night. It’s as if all is forgiven once the sun goes down.

    See also Interracial Lesbian Mothers and Two Mother Hens.

  • Interracial Lesbian Mothers

    What is happening with the two mother hens sharing a brood? They are still getting along. At night, they sleep side by side in the doghouse where they hatched their two chicks. It’s impossible to know where the chicks are sleeping. Are they under one hen? Is there a chick under each hen?

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    We’re calling them the interracial lesbian mothers. The chicks move freely between the two hens. The two hens aren’t exactly close. During the day they keep a few feet from each other, and it’s clear that each would rather have the chicks all to herself.

    In the four years I’ve been watching hens hatch and raise chicks, there have been a number of unusual situations: hens which have given up incubating midway and replaced by hens which finish the job, hens switching clutches, and hens taking care of another hen’s chicks when the chicks were orphaned.