Day 21 - Continued

I promised you updates, so here we go!

After hearing/seeing nothing this morning, I went out to run a few errands with a disappointed slump to my shoulders. I had more or less concluded that the great serama hatching experiment had failed. So imagine just how gleeful I was when I heard cheeping, actual real cheeping, from under Vera this afternoon.

I was sat next to the hutch, my chin resting on the doorframe and staring at Vera who was staring at me.  We were both quite fed up. I contemplated how hard it would be to get Vera out of broody mode without upsetting her, and Vera artfully placed pieces of wood shaving about her chest and wing area. After placing a piece, she would eye it critically from various angles, and sometimes finding it lacking, rearrange it. She began to look a bit like she'd cut herself shaving multiple times. Just as she was about to place another piece, her undercarriage cheeped. We both froze, but only one of us had a faceful of wood parings, so I think she was more surprised.

Cautiously, Vera dropped her next piece of wooden jewellery and chirruped back. The cheeping got more insistent. I was just about to do a victory (silent) scream, when Vera did something quite surprising. She leapt up off the nest and legged it. With my heart in my mouth, I wondered how quickly I could get the incubator up and running again. Vera was scoffing chick crumb like a demon. I carefully placed my hand over the eggs, hoping to keep them warm while I quietly panicked. Vera was now face down in the drinker, snorting H2O like it was going out of fashion. The eggs began cheeping. Loudly. With one last slug of fluids, Vera shook herself like a prizefighter about to enter the ring, and legged it back to the nest. I quickly withdrew my hand, but still earned myself a filthy look and a darkly muttered chicken curse. She gently settled herself again, and I got the distinct impression that Vera was stocking up for a prolonged period of sitting. A bit like the time I ate an entire family sized bar of Dairy Milk just before I went in to labour with the youngest. A girl needs her energy.

So now we are waiting. The last time I checked, Vera was still chirruping gently to her eggs, and they were cheeping back. She did look slightly alarmed when her rear end suddenly shot up an inch to the left before settling down, but she is still sat firm.

The serama are coming.