Chicken talk

 I am so happy we did it. Just going ahead and doing the backyard chicken thing has been so good for us.

{Tiffany-Black Cochin)

I told the kids we'd do it, ordered the coop kit, bought the Idiots Guide to Chickens...and then we just did it. We just went and got chickens! Crazy!

I tend too overplan for stuff like this. Research and plan, plan and research and then, maybe, maybe actually do something. This time I started in that same old mode, but the kids kept on pestering me and finally I just threw my hands up, cause sometimes you just have to jump in the pool and not ease in. I mean how hard could a few chickens be?

{Amy-Buff Brahma)

Turns out I was right-not hard at all. Really they are not much trouble at all and they are just the silliest things.

{Isabelle-Barred Rock}

Also, having chickens turned us into neighborhood celebrities. Well, we kind of already were what with the homeschooling and seven kids and all. Not to mention the small black dog who thinks he's a greyhound and continues to escape and chase the Fed Ex man all around the block despite both the regular fence and the invisible fence ... Yes, I would wager everyone in the subdivision knows us pretty much. I would guess we are more like notorious celebs than the idolized ones though.

And so we learned about the origins of the phrases 'hen-pecked', and  'pecking order'  and  what a 'broody hen' is like. We learned some about fertilization and where baby chicks come from and what a rooster is for. Heck MaryClare ran up to me breathless and wide-eyed and described, hands waving,how she just watched an egg come right out of Isabelle!

It's been amazing to be able to witness the cycle from chicken feed, table and garden scraps to the delicious little egg on your plate in the morning.

{dirt bath}

Did you know chickens love to bathe in the dirt? They will just roll in it like a dog and they fluff out their feathers and throw it all around, just luxuriating in it. Fascinating and hilarious to watch.

{Ryan and Nina making me smile}

Sadly we will be saying goodbye to our 3 sweet hens this weekend. And you know what? Now that I think about it it's kind of their fault! 

We have decided to try and sell this house (again) and move to a bit more rural place. I honestly don't know where or what we'll end up with, how far out of town or how large a homestead, but we do know we want to try for something. We have an itch and desire to do some more of this chicken stuff and maybe some other small farm-y things. There's more to it than just that of course, but having these three girls around has given us suburban folks a boost of confidence to jump.