Infertile turkey adopts 2 chicks abandoned by their mom — treats them like her own

A heart-touching story of a turkey mama taking care of two abandoned chicks is everything that proves motherhood isn't confined to only giving birth; rather, it's all about love, care and sacrifices that follow. When a farm owner, who goes by @jcl.ranch on Instagram, first discovered a deserted egg from a hen's nest, she decided to offer the chick to Tiny, an infertile turkey, who had watched her dreams of becoming a mother fade away, not once but twice. To the woman's utter surprise, Tiny not only accepted the chick but ended up becoming their actual mother.

Even after waiting for 24 hours, when the mother hen didn't show up, the farm owner decided to step in and gently help the chick come out of their shell. "I presented the chick to the hen, but she wanted nothing to do with it and proceeded to attack it," the woman said, explaining why she finally chose to give the hatchling to Tiny, a child-free turkey on the same farm. Without a second thought, the farm owner went near Tiny, who was still sitting on her infertile eggs, hoping they would hatch one day. "So, let's hope Tiny will take our baby chicken that needs a mama," she said. The minute the farm owner placed the chick in her nest, Tiny immediately took them beneath her, as if protecting the baby from the cruel world.

Surprisingly, in just two days, Tiny and her baby chick had already formed a bond. The chick even started following the turkey, just as children follow their mothers. On the fourth day, Tiny adopted another chick, who was picked up from a feed store where she was constantly being attacked by other chicks because of her relatively smaller size. The heartwarming video captured how Tiny slowly began accepting them as her own, reminding us that love can echo in the most unexpected moments. "I wasn’t concerned about Tiny accepting her, but at a couple of weeks old and having been a brooder chick, I worried the chick wouldn’t take to a momma turkey. But she did," the farm owner said, talking about the second chick accepting Tiny as her mother.

Just like Tiny, many birds tend to adopt and accept babies of others in the wild for a variety of reasons. According to a report by Tough Little Birds, usually, adoption happens by mistake, where parent birds fail to recognize their real babies. In the case of Tiny, since she saw the chicks right from their birth, do you think there is a possibility that she failed to recognize that they're not her real babies? Or was she actually longing to experience motherhood?

Meanwhile, the heartwarming video received an overwhelming response on social media, leaving people awestruck. For instance, echoing the sentiments, @cherishhnicole commented, "I love how she’s questioning it, and then she’s like, 'Yeah, this is my baby.' Another girl in here had her chicken raise a peacock baby because I think the mom didn’t raise it or something. The fact that the peacock was sitting on the roosting bar with the mother (who was the same size) with her wing over it was so funny."

@lt_herring wrote, "This is so precious. It’s so sad when the good mommas can’t have their babies. So glad you had a baby chick for her!" A person, @kortanaxo, revealed, "Growing up, we had one of our banty hens raise a baby duck after its mom was killed by the male ducks (they drowned her trying to mate). He turned out to be the sweetest duck ever and loved his mama chicken so much. It was such a beautiful experience."

You can follow JCL Ranch (@jcl.ranch) on Instagram for more animal-related content.