Chicks! We have new chicks! And let me tell you, watching chicks grow through the eyes of a 13 month-old is absolutely wonderful. He LOVES his chicks! He walks his little push cart past them and stops to say hi and check on them periodically throughout each day. He talks to them and says good morning and goodnight. He feeds them spinach and gives them kisses. He knows to be gentle with them and does a pretty good job carrying that out. And he is very diligent in telling us that the heat lamp is hot. Our experience with our first batch of chicks 4 years ago was so much fun, but this is an entirely different kind of fun and I'm loving it.
We got 5 chicks this time around. One Rhode Island Red, named Rosie the Red. One Golden Sexlink, named Marilyn (Monroe...of course). One Barred Rock, named Fingers II...we lost Fingers I to a raccoon last fall and while they are different breeds, Dan wanted another Fingers. And lastly, two Black Australorps named Dumpling and Noodle Soup. That gives us a total of 11 birds, but we are planning to cull 3 of our older hens by the end of the summer in order to make room for the youngins and hopefully revitalize our egg supply for next year. Our egg supply is up, but definitely not where it was before when our birds were younger. It will be sad to say goodbye to our older hens, our first ladies. I'm not ready yet...but I know it's what is best for us and so I'll be ready when the time comes.
But for now...CHICKS!!!!!! Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate and happy spring to all!