It's not uncommon for animals to adopt young babies of other species. The mothering or nurturing instinct is so strong that it often transcends the barriers between species, although there are typically limits (for example, we generally only hear about mammals in these stories).

Photo: Reddit/Kelmo7

You may question, then, how a cat could mother a clutch of chicken eggs. How would she recognize that the eggs are babies at all and not just eerily identical rocks? Why would she take any interest in them at all except to bat them off a table like any other small inanimate object?

Photo: Reddit/Kelmo7

Well, there could be many reasons this cat's fascination with eggs first began. Maybe she was just drawn to the heat lamp over the eggs or wanted to lie in that cozy bed with them. Maybe she saw them as toys of some sort.

Photo: Reddit/Kelmo7

But we suspect there might be something more to it. Cat's have fantastic senses of smell and hearing, after all. Perhaps the cat was able to sense the presence of the vulnerable baby chicks inside the eggs and knew they were going to need a mother.

Photo: Reddit/Kelmo7

Regardless of the reason, it's evident that this cat has taken complete ownership of her feathered babies from the time they were brought into her domain in their eggs all the way into their adulthood.

Photo: Reddit/Kelmo7

In the video, we can see her sitting gently on her "litter" and territorially batting one egg back toward the nest when a human removes it. When they begin hatching, mama is right there to oversee the whole process. After they're hatched, she happily grooms and caresses them and loves to cuddle up with them all next to her.

Photo: Reddit/Kelmo7

Cats may typically view birds as their prey, but they're certainly also capable of nurturing them when they want to. This mama cat is doing a wonderful job with her feather-babies.

Check out the video to feel a little tug at your heartstrings!

Cat incubating eggs and raising chicks
byu/Kelmo7 inaww