Our broodiest hen, Little Buffy, had been sitting on a clutch of eggs for several weeks. Occasionally she would get up and we would gather them up, but for a couple of weeks it seemed she hadn't moved. We didn't think that there was any way, with December temps dropping well below freezing, that she could actually hatch an egg. But then on the afternoon of the last day of Hanukkah, we heard peeping coming from under Buffy in her nesting box. Buffy had hatched Mira, the miracle chicken. Mira and Buffy are now living in the house with us, at least until Mira gets enough feathers to move to the barn. This of course drives Godfrey and Snuppy the cat crazy, but delights Charlotte to no end.