Last night, eggs number 4 and 5 hatched.  I am calling them the twins.  It was so amazing yesterday.  The pip holes were there at 7am.  We had to be away for most of the day and when we returned home around 2pm, it did not seem like much progress had been made. I checked on them about every hour.  Finally around dinnertime, I just resolved myself to the fact that I was going to miss their hatching.  It would probably happen sometime in the middle of the night like egg number 3.  However, I could not have been so wrong.

My son got home after a great day with friends.  As they were being dropped off, I invited my son’s friend and his Mom to see the eggs.  The timing was just right!  We watched.  If we had been a minute later, we would have missed it.  Sumultaneously, both eggs 4 and 5 opened on the fissure that the baby chicks had made around the wall of the egg.  Suddenly, in one burst of mustered up strength, they pushed their way out of the shells.  Spent and exhausted, they lay there vulnerable and stretched out quietly.  You could see their chests rising and falling with each deep breath.  I can only imagine how difficult their first task in life can be.

 

Here we are!  Egg number 3 is so happy to have some company!

Overnight, egg number 6 hatched. Now we have 3 eggs remaining and 4 new little lives at Tilly’s Nest.  I am hoping for some pip holes from the remaining eggs today.  I am not sure how long Dolly is going to remain on the nest.  At this point, she seem much more interested in her babies.  This morning she was in her usual zen-like trance.  Maybe, like most new Moms, she didn’t get much sleep.  I do know one thing.  She did not poop in the run like she usually does when I let her out.  She just had a one track mind on getting back to her babies.  I hope she doesnt’ poop in the nest because we know what happened last time!