Chicken Talk II: Fowl Language

Today on Chicken Talk we will examine the adage "Don't count your chickens before they hatch": a fairly straightforward piece of advice that would not seem to require chicken experience. Some eggs might not hatch. You might get, like, nine actual chickens from ten eggs. Got it.

Well. NOW I got it even more. I submit, for your perusal, our hens' wildly varying hatch rates this spring and summer:
1. 0/5 = 0% (Mama Orpo)
2. 4/5 = 80% (Wyandotte hen)
3. 8/10= 80% (Orpington hen)
4. 1/16= 6% (Mama Orpo again)
5. 2/6 = 33% (Barred Rock hen)
6. 4/6 = 66% (Brahma hen)

The main story up there is Mama Orpo, who comes in with 0% in slot #1 and again with 6% in slot #4. Mama Orpo is clearly an ill-fated mother. (note: despite the title, that sentence is as close as we'll be getting to foul language.) Her story has it all: highs and lows, hopes and disappointments, a heroine who overcomes a fatal flaw, a frenemy...and ultimately even a happy ending. That's right: her story, in the next post, will be a Very Special Episode.