This is Matilde, the hen that incubates baby cats: “It's something unique”

The maternal instinct is a phenomenon that overcomes the human barrier, causing all types of animals to protect their young from possible dangers. Although the most common thing is to protect offspring of our own species, the truth is that all kinds of cases are seen in nature.

An example of this is Matilde, a two-year-old chicken whose obsession is taking care of the six babies of María, a cat with whom she lives on a farm in Seville. “They are like their children,” says Manuel Salas, who discovered the bird incubating the kittens.

Far from feeling threatened, the cats’ mother does not cause problems: “She gets involved anyway,” says Manuel, who recorded the tender scene. “It’s something unique, I had not seen it before,” says the man who works at La Huerta de Salita, in Villanueva del Ariscal (Seville).

The little cats are barely a month old, so Matilde the hen follows them wherever they go, and protects them as if they were her own eggs. “She plays with them and they tickle each other,” says Manuel, in charge of this Andalusian garden where all the animals live together.

“There are no chemicals here and the animals move freely,” explains the caretaker, who is part of the third generation of farmers in his family, “I wanted to create an open-door space here that aims to transmit to society in a way “selfless unconditional love for nature.”

Thanks to this dynamic, the animals that live in La Huerta de Salita share space with a true nature lover, who does not hesitate to share images of their pets with pride.