New Additions

Over the weekend we acquired some new additions to our family. This was not my idea, mind you. In fact, I've been against this idea since it's hatching, so to speak, several years ago. While I have not been a fan, I finally just figured out that regardless of my squawking, it was going to happen. Well, I guess on the plus side, no one can accuse my husband of being hen-pecked.

Geez, I crack myself up.

Oh my gosh! That one was completely unintentional! I'm killin' myself over here! LOL!

Ok, to let you all in on the joke, here is a picture of our little additions:

Yup, now you get the joke. Right now the little darlings are living in a small, round open container in the garage under a heat lamp. Eventually we will have a chicken coop in the backyard. Once they're old enough, and we actually buy one, they will be moved to a chicken coop in the backyard. By that time they should no longer need the heat lamp. It will be quite a while before they start laying eggs. My husband guesses sometime in July. Of course, that assumes that they are hens. Since these chicks were purchased at a local "country" store, who does not sex-link their chicks, we have no guarantees that we didn't get three roosters. Something we absolutely don't want. My husband got the chicks for eggs, and no other reason. And it's not good if those eggs are fertilized. Plus, roosters are really loud, and not only am I NOT interested in being awoken at the crack of dawn daily, but I don't really want angry neighbors who have also been awoken at the crack of dawn pounding down my door. But, there seems to be a large market out there for this sort of thing, so my husband should be able to find someone to give any roosters to, without much of an issue. Unfortunately, we won't be able to determine their sex for quite a while, either, so right now it's just wait and see.

Part of the reason I did not want chickens was my fear of how we would explain the demise of any said chickens, for any reason, to Sweetpea. I had no doubt she would view these birds as pets. My husband had talked about using any non-laying hens as food. How would we explain to her we had to eat her pets?? No, Not a good idea. My husband tried to tell me we would just name them things such as Nugget, Extra-crispy, Fricassee and the like. Really just his way of saying he didn't think it would be a problem. I just laughed and thought "we'll see".

So this weekend my sister and her family were in town, so Sweetpea and I were out around the town shopping with them, when I received a call from my husband that the local store had chicks, and we should come and check them out. He later claimed that he only intended for Sweetpea to see the chicks; he did not intend to buy any. While I believe that that probably was his intention, I knew better. I had no doubt we would leave that store chicken owners.

And so we did. It didn't take much convincing on Sweetpea's part. She simply had to look up at her daddy, with big, round, adoring, little girl eyes, and the deal was done. The shopping cart was loaded down with items amounting to a chicken starter kit, a small cardboard box was filled with three adorable chicks and off we went. Of course, after the purchase of her new pets, Sweetpea had no further interest in gallivanting around town on shipping missions. So she, my husband and the chicks headed for home, while I continued the shopping with my sister. Shortly thereafter, I received a call from my husband informing me that Sweetpea had named the chicks on the way home. (Keep in mind that this store is about a 5 minute drive from our house.) When I asked if she chose Nugget or Fricassee, he called me a name I won't repeat. (Though probably completely fitting.) He told me we now owned a Feather, Waterfall and Pecky. All he knew for sure was that the yellow was Pecky. I'm not entirely 100% sure, but I may have something along the lines of "I told you so". But I might be mistaken.

So, until we have a new home built in the backyard, the chicks are garage-dwelling entertainment for Sweetpea (and any friends or cousins who might happen by). And boy are we having a hard time keeping her out of the garage. Any time she seems to be just "gone" from the house, we simply have to peak in the garage to find her, hovering over their little nest, gently stroking their feathers and looking down on them with adoring, and I might add somewhat motherly-looking, eyes. She has been taught already that she cannot pick them up without an adult present, so at least she's obeying that rule. But at this point all I have to say is, I hope they're all hens.