Chicken Doula

This time, when it came to birth, I was not all that involved.

This time it was at the farm. Where, ironically, it seems the most natural place for birth to occur.

This time, it was chickens.

The staff at the farm carefully selected the eggs. They kept them warm for 21 days, checking the humidity levels and temperature multiple times a day.

Then came Birthing Day at the farm.

The day before, we started hearing the peeps from inside the incubator. We saw a couple of the eggs had little pecked holes, from the inside. The next morning, they were really starting to crack open their little shells. Then they lay exhausted and wet on the grated bottom floor.

Even chicken birth isn’t all that glamorous.

The little fluff balls now are parading around their new little space, mostly staying under the spotlight of the heat lamp. Every day when we drop Marc off at work, and pick Marc up, we have to go check on the chickies.

(Also, Gabrielle dutifully feeds the farm cats each a bundle of catnip.)

I love that Gabrielle gets to see life unfolding like this. Tonight as I was putting her to bed, she mournfully said that she had never seen a lady push out a baby in real life. But then she added, to make up for her loss, that she had seen baby chicks push themselves out of their egg.

I was quite happy to watch the chicken hatching and not be the chicken doula per se. The managers were up several times throughout the night checking on them. Such dedication, and these fluffy little guys sure appreciated it!

Then we came to pick Marc up from the farm and check on the chicks and Marc pulled out a surprise for Gabrielle.

Her very own bird’s nest.

It blew down from a cedar tree. Gabrielle gathered all her Easter eggs (which she is hoarding) and insisted on paper cranes to sit on the eggs.

Then she got to be her own bird doula and help the chickies hatch out of their nest.

(This picture is her rushing after the birds called her cell phone and told her that they were in labour…. something got confused in the translation.)

Glad I don’t have to help babies out of eggs!

I think I’ll just stick to being a regular doula, thanks.