Chicken hatches kittens?

by Meg on May 21, 2007

According to sender-inner Stuart F., "This chicken likes to lay eggs on this litter of kittens. Momma cat likes having a babysitter, and the kittens don’t seem to mind having eggs laid on them."

Um, EXSQUUUEZE ME? How ridiculous is that? Please check out the kitten heads trying to sleep, and you know that chicken never had a softer nest…

Chickenonkittens

Way to pick a kitten lair, Mom cat! LOL

// UPDATE — OMG peeps, there’s video too!  Thanks, Ian F. //

{ 95 comments }

1 Kar 05.21.07 at 5:44 pm

I really needed a genuinely cute pic this morning. thank you for that!

I love how snug those little kittens look. A mama is a mama, regardless of species.

2 Peg of Tilling 05.21.07 at 5:45 pm

I would mind having eggs laid on me…

3 Theo 05.21.07 at 5:45 pm

More like “Interspecies Incubating”, heh

4 Debi 05.21.07 at 5:45 pm

That’s so funny–and so cute! How can it be REAL, people?

5 Shandrews 05.21.07 at 5:46 pm

Oh wow, how cool is that? Chicken heap!

6 ceejoe 05.21.07 at 5:49 pm

LOLWTFBBQPON1ES!!!1!1

Now if all barnyards could have happy animals like that, I would not need to be vegetarian…

7 luvinmalssomuch 05.21.07 at 5:54 pm

That is the cwaziest thing I have every seen. Now the mystery is solved as to whether the chicken or the egg came first. It’s Kitties.

8 S 05.21.07 at 6:04 pm

Has anyone seen an unwashed egg? Since hens have something called a cloaca through which both eggs and poop come (no separation of those two functions in birds), it’s got to be kind of gross… who cleans the kittens after? I wonder if this is a problem. I wonder if I remember my bird biology correctly. But this is kind of cute-EW. That should be a new category, perhaps, cute-EW. The stuffed breathing toys might qualify in a subcategory.

9 S 05.21.07 at 6:06 pm

P.S. Sorry to post again, but maybe she’s just roosting/cuddling, not laying. :)

10 Martha 05.21.07 at 6:10 pm

Crowd surfin’ in the mosh pit. :)

11 Tor 05.21.07 at 6:21 pm

purr…bonk…mew!…. :| |

12 Happenstance 05.21.07 at 6:22 pm

I’ve seen a similar situation in an old, old LIFE magazine; a hen fluffed up and seated on the nest, with a kitten poking out its head out from under each wing.

13 Aubrey 05.21.07 at 6:32 pm

T., more like interspieces in-cute-bating.

I love those kittehs hen-packed under her to form a soft, fluffy pillow!

14 firefinch 05.21.07 at 6:33 pm

Which came first, the kitten or the egg?

15 leah 05.21.07 at 6:36 pm

I hope that the kittens are not going to chase the chickens. But this is truly an interspecies snorgle !!!!!!!!!!!!!

16 oaklandcat 05.21.07 at 6:41 pm

i wonder if those kittens try to nurse on the hen and get a mouthful of feathers

17 Rob 05.21.07 at 6:41 pm

The chicken is safe for now…but in a couple of months……

18 Metz 05.21.07 at 6:52 pm

“Um guys? I think we read those feather bed instructions backwards or somthin…”

19 greenighs 05.21.07 at 7:01 pm

Is there a WTF catagory?

20 BrianMPLS 05.21.07 at 7:04 pm

“chicken litter”

!

that’s funny!

21 Golden 05.21.07 at 7:08 pm

SHUT UP! This is beyond redonkulous and wayyyy fun. Chicken Litter.. bwahahahahhahahhaaa!
As for the poster about the chicken poo.. we here at CO don’t think our animals poo. They are too cute for poo.

22 Juniper Jupiter 05.21.07 at 7:11 pm

OMGOMGOMG!!!oh…i mean omgomgomg…musn’t disturb the wee bebeh kitling heads whilst they sleepies…theys so tie tie…. *squee!*

23 annie 05.21.07 at 7:14 pm

Okay Peeps we have both Chickens and cats at our house. The cats do not chase the chickes. the chickens can beat up the cats if needed. In fact Darin our Male cat will help guard the baby chickens from others when we have them. Not to mention the mama chicken who is not to be messed with the minute she starts sitting on those eggs untill the chicks are about 3 months old. And as for the eggs when they come out. They are spotless. No Poop on them.

Also a little known fact our hens will all lay in one box not at the same time but one after the other. and if one of my hens is nesting on eggs the others will actually lay eggs in the nest with her there for a couple of days so their eggs will get hatched. I call it cooperative nesting.

In the picture it looks like the mama cat choose the hens nesting box for her kitten lair. and Roady reds are the most friendly(the girls) hens around.

24 Pishtosh & Poppycock 05.21.07 at 7:15 pm

Baroo?

25 the hen 05.21.07 at 7:18 pm

Chicken eggs come out clean and warm. Lucky kittehs…
They look sooo comfy.

26 Martha in Washington 05.21.07 at 7:39 pm

This is just too bizarre!! Cute but bizarre! Hens and Kits! I love going to the fair and seeing all the different kinds of chickens. I like listening to the soft clucky/bokky sounds they make too.

27 heidilynn 05.21.07 at 7:40 pm

D’yah think this is how it looked on the Ark? Bet a whole lotta interspecies snorgling went on in there!

28 Yitzysmommie 05.21.07 at 7:53 pm

Oh, I sooooo love this pic! The kittenz that I can see look purr-fectly comfortable.

29 Denita TwoDragons 05.21.07 at 8:05 pm

“D’yah think this is how it looked on the Ark? Bet a whole lotta interspecies snorgling went on in there!”

…and thus, the Platypus was born… ;-)

I’ve seen similar stuff when I was young. dogs nursing on cats, hens nesting on duck eggs, etc. I’ve never seen anything as radical as this though, but I’m not surprised. What a warm-comfy that would be!

Now if the chicks hatch out going “mew!” though…*LOL*

–TwoDragons

30 ThreeCatNight 05.21.07 at 8:13 pm

I’ve heard of featherbeds, but this seems quite the reverse! However, if those sweet little kittehs aren’t bothered by it, it seems fine to me. I’m sure the warmth and protective position of the mother hen comforts them, too.

31 Happy LOL Day 05.21.07 at 8:15 pm

This is amazing, such a wonderful thing that mamma love, seriously great picture
:)
http://www.happylolday.com

32 grau 05.21.07 at 8:18 pm

Ha ha ha. Oh my god. :D

33 Jenn Jordan 05.21.07 at 8:22 pm

Thats the most literal use of the word “babysitter” I’ve ever seen.

34 TracyFlick 05.21.07 at 8:25 pm

Mew-mews have very precious little mew-eyes that are barely beginning to open. So be careful with the claws, Birdie, I am sure you will! Otherwise, very cute. :)

@>–’–,—

Remember how Snuffy used to call Big Bird just Bird? LOL. Just remembered that.

Aw…Bird.

35 Theo 05.21.07 at 8:47 pm

TracyFlick — is that an ASCII rose?

36 Rosalynde 05.21.07 at 8:49 pm

This has GOT to be, like, a sign of the coming cute-pocalypse. . .

37 S 05.21.07 at 8:49 pm

So glad to hear chicken eggs come out warm and clean! This helps! :)

38 brinnann 05.21.07 at 8:50 pm

Denita 2D: Platypus made me LOL! But which animals are the parents? A duck and…? Beaver maybe?

39 Aubrey 05.21.07 at 8:51 pm

This hen can’t be trusted! Isn’t is obvious that she’s hatching a clan – to take over the world via The Cute?

40 Carlisa 05.21.07 at 8:57 pm

KIT-CHENS? CHICK-KITS? I like this new breed! One kitty sunny side-up please.

41 Canaduck 05.21.07 at 9:01 pm

Now if all barnyards could have happy animals like that, I would not need to be vegetarian…

Posted by: ceejoe

Yup. :) Or vegan.

42 Yitzysmommie 05.21.07 at 9:02 pm

hee hee hee carllisa – kit-chens!!!

43 Canaduck 05.21.07 at 9:03 pm

“Now if all barnyards could have happy animals like that, I would not need to be vegetarian…

Posted by: ceejoe”

Yup. :) Or vegan. (Darn non-functioning HTML!)

44 Nicolo 05.21.07 at 9:04 pm

Hee hee hee! If the kittehs grow up clucking and the chicklets grow up mewing! Confusion! Mayhem! What next – rabbits that don’t disapprove?!?

45 Catsquatch 05.21.07 at 9:21 pm

PROOF THAT MOMMY NATURE JUST DONT CARE WHEN IT COMES TO MAKIN BABEHS!!!!

46 LeeshaJoy 05.21.07 at 9:24 pm

“Grocer, I’ll take a dozen grade ‘A’ kitten eggs, please.”

47 musicchick2 05.21.07 at 9:40 pm

I wuz kinda worried that the Mom-cluck might be awfully heavy on top ‘o those kitties, but everyone seems to be fine here. Am I the only one who is wondering where Momkitty is? And if humanoids relocated the kits, or if there was feline intervention?

48 MamaLana 05.21.07 at 10:18 pm

Eggscuze me?

49 Jwlls 05.21.07 at 11:01 pm

annie – *sigh* now I want to sell everything I own and go live on a farm…

Those kittehs are living the life! All snug in a NEST and covered with downy “blanket”!

50 Jwlls 05.21.07 at 11:04 pm

annie – *sigh* now I want to sell everything I own and go live on a farm…

Those kittehs are living the life! All snug in a NEST and covered with downy “blanket”!

51 e-beth 05.21.07 at 11:11 pm

Well, I just gotta be serious here for a minit. According to the description, this seems to be a new scientific discovery of a hitherto unknown symbiotic relationship between cats and chickens! Alert National Geographic! Call the FDA! Boil some water!

Or maybe it’s just cute.

52 Jwlls 05.21.07 at 11:27 pm

double-post! sah-wee!

53 colie 05.21.07 at 11:30 pm

bok meow!

54 Cain 05.21.07 at 11:56 pm

Very cute, but I hope it doesn’t get too warm for the eggs.

55 riolinda 05.22.07 at 12:14 am

look at those cute sleepy kitty heads! :)

56 Brak_Silverbone 05.22.07 at 12:39 am

I heard a story years ago about a broody hen who stole a litter of beagle pups from their mama. Ahw was discovered sitting on ‘em and tucking them firmly back underneath her when they tried to escape. (The beagle pups were very new and young, so they didn’t fight back much, and fear not, all ended well.)

57 Brak_Silverbone 05.22.07 at 12:40 am

Er… “SHE was discovered sitting on ‘em.”

58 Dale 05.22.07 at 12:59 am

Greenighs, it´s not WTF, it´s WTC (What the cluck??)

59 MilkyWei 05.22.07 at 1:08 am

Aaaaw! Sweet memories of that previous post

where a kitty and a hen were best friends,

and where else…but Japan!

http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2006/02/tasty_snuggling.html

60 Mrs. P. 05.22.07 at 2:18 am

Okay, this is OFFICIALLY the weirdest, and cutest, thing I’ve ever seen on C.O.

And to think that people, all of the same species, have such a hard time getting on with each other. Take some inspiration, peeps!

61 Leyla 05.22.07 at 2:32 am

Will the bebeh kittens lick and bath the newborn chicks? Will the newborn chicks think they’re kittens?

What happens when this litter gets big enough that they might swat the eggs around, possibly breaking them?

I’d love to see a second pic, of bebeh chicks and kittehs all together in the nest.

62 Jacki14 05.22.07 at 2:34 am

I wonder whether Mrs Hen has tried feeding the kittens….

63 Aubrey 05.22.07 at 2:44 am

Mamalana,

We’re not having any of that here, no sir. Omelette-ing you off with a warning this time.

64 Stuart Ferguson 05.22.07 at 3:03 am

You can see the video on youtube search on chicken hatches kittens.

65 R. Moore 05.22.07 at 3:34 am

Heh, I just helped a bunch of inner city kids learn about farm life today! They loved harvesting eggs.

Once again, I found myself an awesome job. That is, if you like kids, farm animals, and don’t mind blistering heat…

66 Tony James 05.22.07 at 4:14 am

Aubrey – that was truly dreadful. If you don’t cease and desist from your punning forthwith I shall have to put you in hencuffs and eggsecute the sentence of the court.

67 Andrea|Nash 05.22.07 at 4:26 am

Shame on me – I’ve not read everyone else’s comments – but I’m tired and I want to go to bed. And I have to say… this is a gifted chicken – she’s figured out how to get out of the tunnel with no light at the end and still care about her children.

68 Teresa 05.22.07 at 4:43 am

Aww, man how sweet. I remember seeing on TV where this mother hen would sit on a litter of kittens until mom cat came back to feed her kittens. The farmer said that this had been going on for some time. I guess the mother hen thought the kittens were strange looking chicks in need of protection while their mom was out.

69 Dale 05.22.07 at 4:49 am

Aubrey, Tony, enough with the cock-eyed puns and terrible yolks.

70 Andrea|Nash 05.22.07 at 4:51 am

OK – I went back and learned what everybody else said while my post was posted. When my Mom learned that I didn’t wash the pan I boiled eggs in, she was horrified (she was a home-ec teacher). I reminded her – that’s how we sterilize things, by boiling. She, who as a child was sent to collect the eggs, told me “You have no idea what they look like when you have to pick them up.”

71 Subhangi 05.22.07 at 5:16 am

Will these omelettes have fur? ;)

72 Dale 05.22.07 at 5:36 am

Aha! So that´s why it´s called Foster Farms!

73 Perf 05.22.07 at 6:16 am

I just got off a yukky 9 hour flight and this is exactly what I needed.

Thank you!

I want to hang out with this chicken instead of the guy who was sitting next to me on the plane!

74 The Honourable Gladys Anstruther 05.22.07 at 6:41 am

What an eggsciting picture;)

75 lauowolf 05.22.07 at 6:42 am

repre – hen – sible punning!

76 Aubrey 05.22.07 at 6:42 am

Hmmmph. People will complain, but I will not cease until I see the whites of their eyes.

I can’t believe you’re fryer-ed of this already.

77 lauowolf 05.22.07 at 6:43 am

I can’t decide which looks most comfy here, kittehs or hen.

78 Dale 05.22.07 at 7:29 am

Humor most fowl! (And stop poaching my ideas, please.)

79 Aubrey 05.22.07 at 7:46 am

I’ll pluck my ideas from where I wish – feather you approve of not.

Henyway, I gotta get some rest. Frit-tata for now.

80 Dale 05.22.07 at 10:02 am

[Sigh. Rolls over and submits. But does not learn lesson :) ]

81 pkeli 05.22.07 at 11:57 am

Do you think that the eggs the hen laid are fertilized and that she’s trying to hatch them in the kitty nest? Or is this just an everyday eggs-for-omlets deal and the kittens get new eggs dropped on them each morning?

82 Ian Ferguson 05.22.07 at 1:07 pm

This was taken on our family farm. The mom made her nest in the chickens laying box and the chickens always lay in the same spot every day. It doesn’t matter if 6 little kittens showed up in the box or not.

We found out one day when we were looking at the kittens and found an egg in the box that they were all curled up around. After that we tried to get it on camera with the hen sitting in the box and we got this picture.

You can even see momma cat standing around nearby in this video on youtube of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2njqzx-clto

If you look around at all our youtube videos you can see some of the chickens sharing some food with momma cat, and of our new foal being born just a few weeks ago.

Glad you enjoyed out photo.

83 jen 05.22.07 at 1:41 pm

OMG OMG OMG OMG
OMG OMG OMG
OMG
OMG
OMG
I CAN’T STOP SQUEELING!!!
This is toooooo cute!! AAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

84 HelloKnitty 05.22.07 at 3:27 pm

UNGH! *head explodes from trying to wrap brain around concept plus also teh overall cuteness of this serene scene*

85 Mitsu 05.22.07 at 5:02 pm

OMG – watch the video…”bok bok, meer meer!” Meanwhile, momkitty’s taking a stroll in the yard. That’s too great.

86 TracyFlick 05.22.07 at 10:10 pm

@>–’–,—
Theo! A whah rose?
What if mama kitteh tries to lick hen? All those tongue needles would catch the feathers. Cough cough (feathers!). Good luck with nursing them, mommy hen.

87 Susan 05.22.07 at 10:40 pm

I have to say it….which came first, the kittehs or the egg?

88 Theo 05.22.07 at 10:43 pm

TracyFlick — here’s what I meant…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascii_art

89 Shannon Johnson 05.22.07 at 11:36 pm

that is so cute. i love it.

90 A thinker 05.23.07 at 3:48 am

There is so much awesome and so much strange in this pic it is hard to know where to start.

Suffice it to say that the animal kingdom is both Weird and Wonderful.

91 ArsenicJulep 05.23.07 at 7:00 am

My dad decided to hatch a couple of eggs for Easter one year, and he even rigged an incubator for them. Daisy, the chicken who survived our not feeding her chick starter, was a feisty bird with an enormous comb and a crow loud enough that we thought she was a rooster–until we found 25 eggs in the woods behind our house. But no other animal would tangle with her, much less have babies in her laying nest. She had our collie on the run, and even survived a near-fatal encounter with another neighborhood dog, opening one eye just as we had finished administering last rites and were about to bury her. Long live Daisy!

92 JH 05.23.07 at 1:52 pm

You have GOT to be kidding me!!!!! No frippin’ way!!!! Beyond CO!

93 cutebabyfix.com 05.23.07 at 2:08 pm

Rosalynde:
This has GOT to be, like, a sign of the coming cute-pocalypse. . .

That’s what I would say!

“Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria!”

-Dr. Peter Venckman on signs of the apocalypse

http://thecutenews.blogspot.com/2007/05/interspecies-love.html

94 Kate 05.24.07 at 12:51 pm

What the cluck?
^_^ I find this cute and funny! Good pic.

95 Lily 05.31.07 at 7:40 pm

What we’re actually witnessing here is the kittens experience their first practical joke.

Mama Hen: Wake up, guess what, guess what!!

Kitties(in little sleepy kitteh voices): Whuut?

Mama Hen: *plops down on the kittehs* Chicken butt!

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