The Hatchling (Gallus, part 6)

Story by chickenboy on SoFurry

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Back to writing about chickens. Fun times. =D

So yes, the next part in my increasingly strange series of feathered transformations. As always, feedback always welcome, and I hope you enjoy it.

Bit of a side note: I've taken down Part 5 of the series. I'm reworking it a bit, and might repost it soon.

Anyway, don't read if you're offended by transformation, very adult situations, weirdness or chickens.


The Hatchling (Gallus, part 6)

by Chickenboy

Megan ran quickly through the crop field, searching desperately for the two lost birds. Her parents were already frustrated at how things were going on the farm, and losing two of the test animals would certainly give them an excuse to ground her for shirking her responsibilities.

The energetic thirteen year old lived on her family's farm with her parents. In many ways it was like most other farms, they grew crops, raised animals and so on, but in one crucial way theirs was different. They were among a select handful of test farms geared to put new products and methods through their paces before being widely approved for distribution. Usually this involved some new method of tilling fields, new medicines for livestock and prototype farm equipment. These two birds, though, were part of a group one company had under close scrutiny. Megan usually didn't pay attention to the details, so all she knew was that there was a large group of poultry kept in one part of the barn, and it was her responsibility to dose them each with a drop or two of this new chemical every few days, careful not to get any on her. It was a simple enough task, one her parents had given to her to see if she'd be ready for harder work once the season started in earnest.

No one would really say what the chemical was, aside from some kind of health supplement. Her parents were evidently used to such replies, since so many companies relied on trade secrets to keep their competitors from acquiring their products. Megan, though, didn't really care about the details, just as long as she got her work done and got her allowance. For the first few weeks everything with the project was going fine. The birds seemed generally healthier, more lively and even produced slightly more eggs than was normal. But one afternoon, Megan had gotten careless.

Setting the bottle on a nearby shelf, she went to help a bird with its foot caught between some boards. As she helped the poor animal out, though, she heard the sound of breaking glass. Turning, she saw one of the birds had gotten up and knocked the bottle off. The container had hit another shelf and broken open, scattering the chemical and bits of glass all over the floor, one hen and the single rooster of the bunch. Megan sprang into action, bolting out of the room and gathering up the shovel, returning and scooping the wet soil and glass shards into the disposal bin as she had been taught. But as she turned back, she noticed some of the birds had gotten out of the room. Herding most of them back in, the girl couldn't help but notice that the two birds who had gotten soaked by the chemical were nowhere to be found. She ran outside, just in time to see the birds disappear between rows of corn. She had chased after them all afternoon, but to no avail. With the knowledge that her parents, or worse, a company official would be by eventually to inspect the progress, she would be in for it then if those two chickens were missing. So at daybreak, she listened for the crow of the rooster, and sprang off in that direction.

The girl's young legs carried her swiftly through the pastures and into the fields beyond. Making her way through the corn rows, she stopped in her tracks as she noticed something odd. All around her the stalks seemed to be picked clean of ears, many of which now lay on the ground with hardly a kernel left on them. The further she went, the more such bare cobs appeared, and soon the cobs themselves were gone as well. The ground too seemed to be trampled and scratched, getting ever worse as she followed the odd path. Soon whole stocks were broken and strewn out, and as soon as she had passed into the wheat fields, the destruction became even more apparent. The ground was so picked over and torn up that it was essentially bare dirt. It was like something was moving through the fields eating the crops, but it sure didn't look like the work of stray cows or feral pigs as it usually was.

A faint clucking sound came from the nearby stand of trees, and Megan darted off towards them, almost perfectly following the line of destruction. Coming to the thicket, she listened and heard the cluck again, and so she plunged into the shaded glen. Megan knew that these trees were a kind of natural fence the old timers had planted that ringed a large pasture on the other side. Passing between the trees and bushes, Megan soon emerged back into the sunlight, having to shield her eyes for a moment as they readjusted. As the glare died, the girl went wide eyed at what she saw.

Standing only a short distance in front of her were the two missing birds, or what she thought were them. They were indeed two perfectly formed and proportioned chickens, only each had to be close to ten feet tall, the rooster having another half foot at least on the hen. The birds didn't seem to notice the girl, rather, they seemed all too interested in each other. Megan watched as the male paced slowly, circling around behind the female as she lay down on the grass. Tilting his head, the rooster took a few steps forward until he was right behind the brown hen, then sprang forward, grabbing onto her in a mating grip. His tail tucked up under hers as their feathered bodies rubbed together. Both were letting out strange moaning noises almost like they were enjoying themselves.

What possessed the girl to creep closer was a mystery, but Megan moved forward as quietly as she could, craning her head around for a better view. Coming up along their sides, she was startled as they both clucked loudly, their bodies tensing as the male released his seed into the female. In a few moments it was over, and Megan stood transfixed as the giant birds began to stand and separate. As the rooster tried to climb off, though, he shook his tail and a last small jet of seed shot out of his vent. As quickly as it happened, the girl was unable to avoid the hot, sticky mass as it flew at her, splattering across her chest, soaking her shirt and smearing across her face and hair.

Megan stumbled and fell back in surprise, crying out as she hit the ground. The chickens took notice of her then, not failing to miss the surprised yelp the girl let out. They both looked down quizzically, watching the girl trying to wipe the sticky mess off her face. She groaned and spat, trying to get as much off as possible, but the stuff just clung to her persistently. As the residual body heat in the sperm faded, Megan began to feel a strange tingling sensation wherever it had touched her skin, slowly getting stronger and spreading out. The more she struggled to get it off, the more intense it became. After a minute she had slowed her progress, another minute and she sat there letting the feeling build. With each heartbeat her apprehension about the strange goop became less and less, and her curiosity built ever more.

Wiping a small patch off her cheek, she looked at the pearlescent white fluid for a moment. Smelling it, the aroma made her dizzy, but seemed also to spark a desire in her mind. She brought her coated fingers to her mouth and let her tongue clean the spunk off of them. The salty, tangy, musky taste danced across her tongue, and sent shivers through her body. Wanting more, she wiped another bit off her forehead and licked her hand clean. She scooped gobs off her neck and shirt, loving the excitement the strange flavor sent through her body.

She suddenly felt confined and hot, her clothes feeling unnatural against her skin. Pulling her shirt off, Megan licked as much of the semen off as she could before tossing it aside. She quickly undid her belt, kicked off her boots and slipped her jeans off as well. The feeling of the fabric rubbing against her inner thighs was driving her wild, her teenage mind not quite sure how to process what was happening. As she tugged at her underwear, a great shiver ran up her spine. The feeling persisted, growing stronger as she began to tug on the fabric, drawing it across her slit. In seconds she screamed in pleasure as her body convulsed in pleasure, squirts of liquid shot out of her soaking the undergarments as they tore and were tossed away.

Megan lay on the grass, panting and exhilarated as she came down off the high of her first orgasm. Still, though, she wanted more, and even as the feelings faded she reached down and experimentally rubbed a hand across her sensitive inner thighs, working her way up to her groin and gasping in pleasant surprise as the blissful feelings returned. The girl fondled and caressed herself into a delirium, forgetting the world around her and not caring that the giant chickens continued to watch her with interest. She inserted a couple of fingers, yelping as it seemed to elevate the sensations to a whole other level. She could never remember feeling that good ever in her life, and her audience could only stare as the human continued its odd behavior.

While the hen watched with intense curiosity, more and more the rooster looked on in a sense of desire. The air was already thick with their own scents, but some new, enticing aroma was quickly being noticed. It was the girl, the smell of her femininity, even as young as she was. Something had set her off, gotten her sex drive to not only trigger but to kick into high gear. Usually the male bird wouldn't have given any human the time of day, but either something of her or something of him, or both, had changed to cause his keen and longing interest in her. Even as much as he had changed physically, he was still subject to the base needs of his species, and those needs were telling him more and more that he should claim this tiny, featherless creature as his own.

Megan was so caught up in pleasuring herself that she didn't notice the rooster stepping forward, casting his shadow over her as he straddled her body. Her eyes bolted open with the first touch of his feathers. She saw his brown and red plumage lowering down, pinning her to the ground under his belly. He was firm enough to keep her from escaping, but surprisingly gentle and careful to avoid letting his full weight crush her. But any though of escape soon was forgotten as the soft feathers slid across her lower body, making her eyes roll back in ecstasy. It wasn't just the torrent of pleasure shooting from her groin, but from wherever the feathers touched her skin. Their soft, almost silky caresses put her at ease, and for some odd reason felt right, like she was meant to feel them and have them against her. Pushing her face up, she cuddled the soft plumage of the rooster's belly, relishing how they felt against her. It seemed as soft as any fancy pillow, but far more comforting as she was engulfed by his presence. The wisps of his heady, musky scent filled her nostrils, and felt gosoebumps raise on her skin as her body responded to it.

He slid forward and back, not nearly as fast as he had with the hen, but rhythmically, dragging his belly feathers across her body. She moaned as the softness was rubbed all over her form time after time. Repeatedly buried in the soft, billowy embrace the feathers, Megan lost herself completely to the experience. She was trapped in a wonderland of pleasure, her body caressed and her nethers teased by the animal that was astride her young body. She gasped as the firm touch of his tail poked between her thighs, spreading her legs wide and pressing hard against her opening as he stepped up his rhythm. She gasped in unison with his motions, feeling the strange, muscled opening press against her own. Then with one last thrust, they cried out in unison as the rooster came.

He crowed loudly as the gush of hot fluids sprayed out of his body, squirting into his new mate with dramatic force. Megan likewise could scarcely control her yells of passion as the rooster claimed her virginity, the rush of hot fluid forcing its way up through her vagina, past her cervix and beginning to fill her womb. But there was still too much for her smaller form to take, and her body was splattered up to her head with patches of seed escaping their joined genitals. The girl writhed is lust and pleasure, wanting only to please the male that had claimed her. It was over all too soon, the rooster panting a few times before climbing off of her, thin threads of sperm clinging to his underbelly, the girl speckled with white patches as she lay on the grass with an expression of sheer joy, her belly slightly distended from the quantity of seed within.

Megan didn't know how long she lay there, but in that time her mind drifted away from everything else except the pleasure of her encounter. Finally able to open her eyes, she saw the rooster walking to the far side of the pasture, pecking at clumps of tall grass as he went. The hen, however, sat almost at her side, looking down at the girl inquisitively. The hen saw the girl, knowing it was a human, but confused all the same. The small figure was giving off a familiar scent, one of a strong, healthy, virile male chicken. While it was likely only the copious amounts of seed covering her body, surrounding her with an aura of male pheromones, Megan was likewise a bit confused at the attention the female garnished upon her. Not that she was in a mind to complain, though, as the pheromones in the air, on her skin and in her womb were flooding her body with even more desires and wants.

Megan jumped back in surprise as the hen stood, turned around and seemed to present her backside. Standing shakily on her feet, a slight dribble of fluids seeping out of her cunny as she did, Megan looked at the feathered mass in front of her with delight. Striding forward, she pushed herself into the soft, downy feathers of the hens tail and underbelly, pressing herself as close as possible, smearing the sticky mess more across both of them. She ran her hands through the softness, enjoying the feeling of serenity as their almost cloudlike textures tickled her bare skin. As she traced her hand slightly more towards the underside, she brushed against something firm and fleshy in a concealed, bare patch under the plumage.

The touch made the hen moan and shiver, and Megan felt muscles tighten under her palm. Curious, the girl knelt, gently pushing the feathers back to reveal the muscular horizontal slit, the female's cloaca, still moist with her own fluids and remnants of the rooster's mating. Gingerly, Megan traced her fingers along the two lips, drawing out another series of clucks and moan like noises from the hen. Removing her hand, Megan moved her head up and gently licked her tongue across its length, the hen squatting down as if to encourage the treatment. She repeated her action over and over, each time moving to a different point on the large, muscular pucker. Soon then hen's vent was glistening from the girl's moist tongue work, finally opening slightly as the hen shuddered and sprayed the girl with a small burst of fluids.

Megan only laughed in delight, looking in fascination at the vent as it gaped open a few inches. Thinking of how much her own pleasure had skyrocketed with her own fingers inside her passage, the girl cautiously reach forward and with a slight effort pushed her hand inside. The hen clucked in a mix of protest, surprise and delight, the cloacal muscles contracting around the intruding object. Feeling the vent tighten up around her, Megan wriggled and pulled her hand, trying to remove it from the chicken's body. She felt an odd, but not unpleasant sucking sensation as the muscles worked over her hand and fingers, and she grinned as each tiny movement seemed to only spur on the chicken more and more. With a loud bawk, the hen shuddered again, once more letting a gush of fluids flow out of her opening. Megan pulled her slickened hand free as the suction abated, licking the fluids off and savoring the different, yet equally alluring feminine flavor.

As the hen came down from her high, the muscles relaxed and her vent once again opened, slightly wider this time. Growing bold, Megan once more reached out, but this time quickly inserted her hand and arm up past her elbow. The hen cawed in surprise, the muscles once again clamping down around the intruder. Megan wriggled her fingers and flexed her arm as best she could, loving the feel of the hot, soft, wet muscular walls around her. The sucking pull of the contracting muscles gripped her limb thoroughly, allowing almost no movement. Megan was lost in the delight of pleasuring such a lovely animal, the feminine odors driving her crazy while her free hand crept down to massage her seed coated crotch.

Her attention was torn away from the pleasure, however, when a violent muscle spasm rippled through the hen's body. In a split second the muscles had loosened then contracted again, quickly yanking her arm deeper into the passage. Looking back at the ventral opening, Megan saw the muscles closed around her arm at least half way between her elbow and shoulder. She pulled, but her arm remained lodged in the constricting embrace of the hen's internal walls. Trying with more force did nothing but make the hen cluck louder from the sensations. Out of frustration, Megan put a hand in the space next to the cloacal opening, trying to add more force and push away. At first she seemed to make some progress, her slickened arm pulling back very slowly from the opening. But another massive contraction coursed through the hen's body, and as she pushed back, Megan's other hand slipped just inside the vent as she was tugged forward from the other limb. The muscles held firm again, and now the girl had one arm almost fully stuck inside with the other held just above the wrist.

Megan felt a wave of panic overriding the miasma of lust, and she desperately tugged and pulled, trying to use her feet to give her enough force to break free, but all to no avail. As much as she tried to fight it, the next contraction pulled the remainder of her arms into the opening, her face pressed firm into the feathers right above the vent. Megan desperately tried to pull away, but the contractions were coming faster now, the next one cramming her nose and mouth right into the seam between the clenched muscular lips. She looked at the pale wall of flesh before her, dreading what seemed inevitable. The next contraction came, and the girl took one last, deep breath as the lips parted and she was drawn headfirst inside, the lips closing again around her upper chest. The hen shifted her weight from side to side, still in a low squat, trying to accustom herself to the strange weight and amazing stretching sensation. The bird bucked its hips down as another spam rippled through her, another part of the girl's body disappearing into her hungry passage, now clamping around the young human's stomach. With a cluck, the hen stumbled forward a bit, picking the human up off the ground and letting it dangle in the air behind her, as yet another contraction drew in the foreign body up to its hips. The hen groaned, feeling the odd mass shifting and wriggling within, her internal muscles trying to position it and the human still desperately trying to move against the confining grip. With labored breath, the hen was jolted by another spasm, drawing in the upper legs almost to the knees. The female chicken shuddered as she felt every muscle in her body tense, knowing the ordeal was soon to be over. Bellowing her clucks, three rapid and massive spams hit, pulling the legs up to the ankles, the toes, and finally fully inside. The hen gasped as her cloaca clamped shut, her internal muscles moving the mass deeper inside. She stood stunned for a few moments, feeling the contractions and the writhing of the body within her slow and eventually cease altogether. Taking a moment to recover her strength, the giant hen turned and casually followed her mate across the pasture, gingerly pecking at what bits of food she could find.

Megan suddenly returned to consciousness, feeling cramped and confined but in such pleasant warm and wet surroundings. Trying to open her eyes, she saw nothing but darkness all around her. She tried to puzzle out where she was. The last thing she remembered was the squeezing of the hen's internal muscles all around her, feeling like she would suffocate from the lack of air. After that, there was nothing, just a blank hole in her memories. She tried to move, but found she was unable to budge more than a few inches in any direction. She seemed to be in a fetal position, her knees folded almost painfully against her stomach with her arms tucked close to her body. Trying again to move she once again met with a barrier that impeded her progress. It wasn't the confining, muscular walls of the hen's cloaca, those at least had been soft and somewhat pliable. The walls around her felt solid and smooth with no give at all.

Trying her best to move, Megan pushed harder and harder but to no avail. Yet the cramping feelings of her limbs and body made her yearn to get out and move once more. As her efforts grew more intense, she was suddenly gripped with a powerful urge to breathe. It then occurred to her, for the minutes or even hours she had sat there in the strange prison, not once had she taken a breath. But now the familiar burning in her chest began to signal the need for oxygen, and this only seemed to driver her to try and find some way out.

She tried one point, one direction after another, each time meeting with failure. Being so confined limited her motion, and she quickly was growing desperate to free herself. Finally, angling her head up, she pushed forward, feeling a rather soft barrier in front of her. With a little more effort, the membrane gave way and a puff of air filled her lungs, alleviating her need momentarily. Pushing a bit further, she ran into the same hard barrier, but this one seemed not quite as hard for some reason. Not passing up the opportunity, Megan pushed forward as hard as she could, attacking the wall the only way she could in so small a space. The sound she heard was like at first like a rock dropped on the sidewalk, but she kept at it time after time. Soon the sound changed, and she felt a slight chip of wall material fall past her face. Encouraged, she kept at it until, with a slight crunching sound, the slightest of cracks appeared, the light streaming in seeming almost blinding. Another hit and she felt the cool touch of air. Filling her lungs seemed to give her new strength, and she continued to push her head against the wall, widening the crack little by little, chip by chip. The crack let in more and more light, forcing Megan to clench her eyes to keep out the glare. Even in her blind state, she kept working at the wall, feeling herself pushing the material aside as more pieces came away, and her resolve only increasing that much more intensely. With several strong hits, using her shoulders as well as her head, a whole side of the wall gave way and Megan fell free of her prison.

She lay there, gasping for breath, very tired from her endeavor and still blinded by the warm sunlight falling on her. She could tell she was outside, from the smell of grass and the nearby chirping of birds. Pushing herself onto her hands and knees, Megan practically dragged herself forward, not knowing how far she had gone until the shade and rustle of leaves told her she was under a nearby tree. Rolling onto her back, she tried slowly to open her eyes, letting them little by little adjust to the spectacular daylight. Slowly the green canopy above her came into focus, as did the blue sky. Looking to the side, she saw she was no longer in the familiar pasture of the farm, but what appeared to be a meadow somewhere in the woods near her home, the glint of sunlight sparkling on the nearby pond also lent itself to that notion. Propping herself up, she looked back in the direction she had crawled from, and was struck dumb at what she was seeing.

The two chickens sat only a dozen or so feet away, on either side of a large nest of grasses which contained an enormous egg, or rather, enormous empty eggshell. It lay there with one large side piece broken off, the inside still damp but perfectly hollow. Megan also noticed the chickens, the hen in particular, were staring intently at her. Looking back at the egg, she saw coming from the broken section of it a trail of ruffled, wetted grass. Slowly lowering her head, following the path, two legs came into her field of vision. Mostly of human shape, they were covered in soft, yellowish down that ended at the ankles. The feet themselves were only vaguely human looking, having three toes facing forward and one pointing back from where the heel should bee, small talon looking nails on each digit's end, and fully covered in grayish, scaly skin. Startled, she clumsily sprung up, bracing herself against the tree for balance. Gazing downwards, she saw the legs sprouted from a very human looking torso, likewise covered in down. But it wasn't hers, as this body not only had a rather rounded belly, but apparently a set of amble breasts beneath the covering down. Holding a hand up, she saw her arm was the same, the down halting right above her wrist, her hands now having only four digits and covered in the scaly, gray skin. Frightened at first, she touched the hand to her face, feeling the soft fuzz rub across her palm, moving closer to her mouth, however, she felt the hard object that stuck out from her face which she had just noticed. It hinged slightly open and shut with each breath, and her fear built all the more.

Darting her gaze around, spotting the nearby water once more, Megan tried to make her way over to it. Through her panic, unfamiliarity with her new legs and the pronounced bulge of her stomach area, she was forced into a waddling gate, but made her way to the pond's edge, dropped to her knees and peered in. Her eyes went wide at the reflection, for it wasn't herself staring back. Looking up from the water, was the image of a human-like body crowned with the head of a young, newly hatched chicken. She threw herself back, trying to scream but producing only a series of chirps and warbles. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw the two adult chickens still staring at her with curious expressions, and then she focused on the enormous, empty egg. As the realization dawned in her rational mind, some deep seeded instinct likewise took hold in her mind. She knew now that it had been 'her' egg, that her struggle to free herself had been the process of hatching. She had been changed and reborn, her mother laying the egg in the secluded meadow, and both she and the father had tended it until it was ready to hatch.

Looking back at her parents, for she seemed to be unable to think of them in any other way, Megan could see what looked like worry and intrigue in their eyes. Turning to the pond once more, she stood shakily and strode forward to look at herself. The most noticeable changes were of course her head and the almost total down veering across her body. She was, in essence a newborn chick, and all chicks emerged from their eggs that way. Turning sideways, she caught sight of the nubby tail right above her rear. But her more animal appearance aside, she also seemed to have matured. She stood at least five and a half feet tall, maybe a bit more. Her body had filled out quite nicely, with shapely legs, rounded hips, a rather generous bust. All in all it looked as if she were ten years older, grown into the body of a woman barely in her twenties. The only thing seemingly out of place was her rather distended belly. Curiously running her hands over it, she realized that she was leaning back, compensating for the weight on her front.

Her mother clucked loudly, snapping Megan out of her examination. The chick was overcome with a sense that she needed to get back to the nest. She felt like she needed to comforting presence of her parents, to tuck herself under the warm, soft weight of her mother's body. Turning, and managing her walk significantly better, she quickly jogged a short distance back towards the nest, but stopped as a spasm gripped her midsection. Cheeping loudly, Megan fell to her knees as a gush of fluid flowed from between her legs. The ensuing cramps were quite painful, but still she was compelled to keep going. She strained to make it the little way back, stopping several times as more contractions hit. With a last effort, she pulled herself over the outer edge of grass and was home.

She chirped again as a strange stretching feeling was felt inside of her, with a weight pressing downwards. It seemed to move quickly, her mind overwhelmed by the sudden and forceful feeling of a mass moving within her body. Another dribble of fluids, and Megan gasped as she felt her own cloaca begin to open, the muscular vent opening wider and being pushed outwards from the inside. Her mother swiveled her head around, examining her chick's back side and seeing a white crown beginning to emerge from her tail vent. Contenting herself, the hen merely rubbed her beak gently on her daughter's cheek, conveying a comforting note to her child as she experienced what all female chickens go through. Tears filled Megan's eyes as the pain built to new levels, and she let out a warbling cry as the object emerging from her stretched her wider than anything she could imagine, the thickest part passing out of her and the weight falling softly into the nest.

Her head hung limp, and she breathed heavily, hoping it was over, but only receiving a brief respite as a second weight began to migrate down her internal passage, following the path of the first. This one came on a bit slower, and was notably less painful, but the poor chicken girl couldn't help but cry out as the second object emerged into the world, stretching her wide once again before falling away. She sobbed, but didn't languish long there, with a huff, she felt a third weight slip from whatever internal place the dratted things were held in, moving along by the steady muscle pulses that pushed it through her body. The third had almost no pain compared to the others, either from her body becoming accustomed to the experience or her mind being too overwhelmed from the other two to notice. Regardless, the only pain she felt was as the thickest part slid free of her rear vent, and she sighed in relief as she felt it draw shut again without another weight moving around in her belly.

She carefully rolled herself over, lying on her back and propping her head against her mother's body. Megan didn't even have to look at the objects to know what they were, but seeing the eggs laying there between her legs just drove the matter home. The three eggs, still slick with her fluids, shone in the daylight. Each one was the size of a softball, and now that they were gone, Megan noticed her belly had deflated a good deal, leaving her only with a bit of a chubby midsection. She breathed a heavy sigh, grateful it was over. Looking up, she saw her mother looking on in a mix of pride and puzzlement. Of course why shouldn't the hen be proud of her daughter for producing her first clutch, but to clutch so soon after hatching was strange even to her animal mind. Turning her gaze to the rooster, Megan's mind seemed to grasp the strange fact. He was a father, both to her and to the eggs. Just as his seed had aided in her own rebirth, so too had it seeded her with new life. As she grew within her egg, her own clutch grew inside of her, waiting only for her to be free in order to be laid. Looking up at her father, now also her mate, she noticed a rather smug expression in his eyes, if that's what it could be called.

But Megan put such thoughts out of her mind as she was overcome by exhaustion. The effort of hatching and laying within minutes of each other had drained her more thoroughly than perhaps anything could. The hen watched her chick drift into slumber, gently pulling the eggs close to her then draping a protective wing around the lot. Her mate, though, stood and stalked off quietly, searching for the food his new and growing family would need all too soon.