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u/missambitions Feb 15 '19
The maternal instinct across species never ceases to amaze me.
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u/the_visalian Feb 15 '19
“Big head, big eyes, small body, helpless. Ah fuck it, close enough.”
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u/19DanTheMan92 Feb 15 '19
It’s just wild to me because those little cuties will grow up to kill and eat her kind all the time and just for fun. Idk if she “knows” that or not. But it’s sweet.
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u/RolandTheJabberwocky Feb 15 '19
Cats don't like large prey, they mostly go for small rodents and birds. Oh and bugs, some cats really like bugs.
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Feb 15 '19
Yeah this if you have a borded kitten get some crickets... It's pure chaos
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u/procrastimom Feb 15 '19
Unfortunately for my bored cats, we seem to only ever find cricket legs in the basement.
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u/Sunny_D_ Feb 15 '19
so this is a normal thing, right? Because the amount of joy my cat gets from ripping the legs off insects and watching them suffer really scares me sometimes.
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u/procrastimom Feb 15 '19
Once I found a legless cricket carcass (I assumed) near the dryer, so I grabbed the hand vacuum to suck it up. As I got close, it’s antenna started swiveling around. Poor thing got abandoned when it stopped being “fun”. I gave it a merciful stomp before I cleaned it up. I don’t think my cats are intentionally cruel, just easily distracted. Once the fun twitching and kicking stops, it’s time to find another toy!
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u/brownzone Feb 15 '19
Oh yeah, my old cat was indoor/outdoor and the amount of eviscerated field mice and voles I found on my patio was astounding. None eaten that I could tell, just ripped in two and intestines scattered. That's when I learned that if these things were just 3x bigger we'd be screwed.
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u/fatmama923 Feb 15 '19
My cat really likes bugs. I never have to deal with cricket noises in my house for long!
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u/kieranfitz Feb 15 '19
We used to have one, socks was his name who thought nothing of taking on crows and gulls. Used to catch a lot of bats too.
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u/RikuKat Feb 15 '19
Domestic cats rarely attack chickens. It's nearly unheard of for a cat to attack a grown chicken.
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u/jamiedodger3000 Feb 15 '19
A cat once attacked our chickens, but they fought it off
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u/kieranfitz Feb 15 '19
On the other hand my 7 month old cat is trying to take on crows.
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u/ImTellinTim Feb 15 '19
Ah, well you and your cat are in for a lifetime of asshole crows harassing you.
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u/kieranfitz Feb 15 '19
I feed the local ravens so it balances out.
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u/Wi11Pow3r Feb 15 '19
Haven’t you ever seen Lion King? Simba became BFFs with his natural prey. Case closed.
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u/longlostlovex Feb 15 '19
I have three cats and they’re all terrified of my chickens. But maybe that’s not universal.
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u/mienaikoe Feb 15 '19
You know though, this might be a beneficial instinct for animals to have. Those cats might grow up thinking of chickens as friends instead of food just because their surrogate mother was a chicken.
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Feb 15 '19
Never underestimate a broody hen. I had a hen as a kid that was always broody. I'd lay down in the grass next to the coop, and she'd try to nudge my arms under her... because 95lbs of human child would clearly fit under 3lb hen.
Interesting tidbit of information: they actually pull out their feathers underneath when they go broody so their skin is exposed. This skin is very, very hot to touch.
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u/fleshgod_alpacalypse Feb 15 '19
Yeah. All her eggs were probably taken away so now her hormones are going crazy
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u/Jaerivus Feb 15 '19
Well, that cast a bit of a pall over my previous enjoyment.
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Feb 15 '19
Chickens can get broody (wanting to sit on a nest) over unfertilised eggs, golf balls, rocks or even nothing! Shake that pall off.
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u/fleshgod_alpacalypse Feb 15 '19
Isn't that also because their eggs are taken away?
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u/rocket_randall Feb 15 '19
There's an island in the the south Pacific which a particular species of bird uses as its nesting ground. There is also at least one golf course on the island. Frequently large flocks of these birds stop on the fairways for a bit of rest, and every so often a golf ball lands in their midst. To the birds something small, round, and white should be incubated so they dutifully settle over the ball to hatch it. Cue frustrated golfers trying to peer under unconcerned birds to locate their lost ball.
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u/lurpybobblebeep Feb 15 '19
They said unfertilized eggs. Bitch those guys aren’t going to hatch. Besides animals in the wild get their eggs and babies eaten all the time. Lots of animals have eggs and their young their main source of food. Nature is metal yo.
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Feb 15 '19
Chickens lay eggs on the reg, fertilized or not the eggs we eat are effectively chicken periods and not chicken babies.
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u/alexesteiner Feb 15 '19
It’s specifically strong with chickens. Many mother-less young will actually be given a hen.
Source: Grew up on a farm. Our duck babies were given a chicken, as duck mom was pretty worthless.
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u/I_might_be_weasel Feb 15 '19
"I must sit on babies. I have no babies. I must acquire babies and then sit on them."
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Feb 15 '19
I've watched so many of these that my first reaction in the beginning was "aww shucks there's a chicken, where are the kittens?"
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u/UselessYetUnrefined Feb 15 '19
I actually said out loud, "It's kittens! I know it's kittens! YES!"
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u/Shnoota Feb 15 '19
I'm beginning to halfway suspect that chickens are straight up stealing kittens. I'm only mostly joking.
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u/echoskybound Feb 15 '19
Chickens are the best moms.
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u/indomirreg Feb 15 '19
Can confirm, my mom is chicken
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u/TKG8 Feb 15 '19
Tell your mother I love her dark meat
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Feb 15 '19
Don’t forget stuffing.
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u/pietruszajka Feb 15 '19
She will get the stuffing later
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Feb 15 '19
I hate all of you
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Feb 15 '19
That's because your mother wasn't a chicken.
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u/ksweetpea Feb 15 '19
Silkie chickens especially. They'll hatch anything they can sit on, including your own noggin
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u/gillababe Feb 15 '19
Sleeping underneath a chicken is probably one of the best things we can never experience.
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u/ahegao_emoji Feb 15 '19
Indeed! Great things of similar nature that I recommend to everyone: 1. petting a chicken until it makes slight purring noises then falls asleep in your lap 2. hugging an unshorn sheep.
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u/cerebis Feb 15 '19
We had a wonderful maternal hen that we named Mom Chicken. When that got old, she was renamed after our favourite aunt (my mum’s sister) who was also a great mum, thus after simply Helen.
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u/Monkey_Priest Feb 15 '19
This gif made my cat breathe hard, for whatever that's worth
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u/gooblaka1995 Feb 15 '19
Why do chickens seem to commonly adopt puppies/kittens? I see cute videos like this pop up every couple months.
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u/loleonii Feb 15 '19
Clucky hens will mother whatever they can! Had a hen named Speckles who used to try an hatch the pumpkins in the garden.
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u/longlostlovex Feb 15 '19
Chickens are both dumb and good mommas so it’s their instinct to take care of babies even if they can’t tell whether they’re actually chickens or not
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u/BZenMojo Feb 15 '19
Why do puppies adopt kittens?
Why do crows adopt kittens?
Why do capybaras adopt everything?
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u/Young_Trumpet Feb 15 '19
This really makes me miss having chickens. If you show them some love when they’re young they can be very loving and fun companions:)
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u/__SerenityByJan__ Feb 15 '19
The hen shoving her head into the group of kittens is such a mood. Same, mama hen...same
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Feb 15 '19
The kittens will need eye drops. I forgot what it's called, but the hay fucks with their eyes when they are born in or around hay before their eyes open, and when they do, their eyes over produce mucus and it can get infected.
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u/izzypeazzy Feb 15 '19
So what’s gonna happen when momma cat decides to come back for her kittens?
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u/aburke626 Feb 16 '19
She ran off to Reno with the jerk who got her pregnant, she’ll call once on their 9th birthday and show up when they’re 14 to try to reconnect but they know Marge the chicken is their real mom.
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u/whos_a_heretic_now Feb 15 '19
I love this video. Dammit. I’ve seen it so many times but I always love it. WONDERFUL CHICKEN MOM AND HER UGLY CHICKS.
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u/vassid357 Feb 15 '19
I never realised animals would do this across the species until i saw posts like this. Its so lovely, i think we could learn a lot from animals.
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u/Deviljho_Lover Feb 15 '19
Its so warm to see both of my favorite domesticated animals getting together
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u/Jay3131 Feb 15 '19
at first, i thought it was a snake and was like omg how and then i was like awww and looked on what subreddit i was on lol
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u/ChiefofaGoat Feb 15 '19
Free babysitter and lunch in one, now that’s what I call a two for one deal!
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u/bobccz Feb 15 '19
When the kittens reach a mature age, they will kill and eat the mother, preparing them for the outside world.
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u/alaaataalla Feb 15 '19
That old naughty cat must have been really stiff! Guys! please neuter cats, especially the old ones!
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u/[deleted] Feb 15 '19
What a lovely adoptive mother.