A Chicken Story...The End

So six months ago we entered the world of chicken farming (much to my dismay) with five chickens.  Soon the boys were gathering eggs every day and I was getting used to the squawking going on in my back yard.  The birds turned out to be an adventure for us all.  Jonah learned when NOT to put his hand in the nest, and I learned that snakes like to eat eggs.
We did not have any luck hatching out eggs, so our neighbor gave us her biddies to raise.  That turned into a disaster...so we decided that we would just keep gathering our eggs for our own consumption and be satisfied with the five little chickens we had.
Today when Joe went out to take care of the chickens, he found that something had killed all five of them.  He thinks it was another snake.  I think I am ready to move.

A Chicken Story (With a Lot of Links)

Back in February, Joe bought five chickens.  Anna, Beulah, Canaan, Delilah, and Esther.  I can't say that I was happy with that decision, but so far it has worked out okay.  They stay in their pen and I stay out of it.  Joe and the boys take care of the egg gathering, watering, and feeding.  My only job is to name them.
The first week of April, Anna began setting.  She had six eggs that she sat on day and night in hopes of raising some little chicks.  The boys were thrilled at the prospect of baby chicks, but a snake got in and ate the eggs out from under her when they were just about ready to hatch.  Of course I was sad for the boys, but I was more upset that we even had a snake!!!
In the meantime, the next door neighbor lady (privacy fence neighbor, not loose dog neighbor or 911 neighbor) had a hen setting on eggs and heard about the snake eating Anna's eggs.  She felt sorry for the boys and last week when her hen hatched out 13 chicks, she called to see if we wanted them to raise.  My initial reaction was NNOOOOO WAY ON EARTH ARE WE RAISING 13 MORE CHICKENS!!! a little bit hesitant but I allowed myself to be talked into it and we went over this past Friday night and gathered the baby chicks along with the momma hen.  The neighbor lady wants her hen back after the chicks are old enough to be on their own.  Baby chicks have to stay with the momma hen until they get enough feathers to keep themselves warm.  (Or so I am told)  Anyway, our four hens and a rooster have now turned into NINETEEN birds.
When we went to go get the chicks and I asked what the hen's name was, the neighbor lady looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Chicken."  I guess maybe I am the only one who names chickens around here. I really am excited to start working on names for the thirteen babies.  I just wish I knew if they were girls or boys hens or roosters.  I'm assuming I have to wait until they get feathers or those nasty looking red things on their heads before I can tell.  I'm surely not getting close enough to tell any other way!
So that is our chicken story.  The kids are loving taking care of and playing with the baby chicks. When Noah learns how to work the camera I will let him take a picture of them, since I don't go in the pen...EVER!

Snakes

This is not what I wanted to see on my back steps this morning. I guess the snake season has officially begun.
Anna had been sitting on six eggs for a couple of weeks and this week something ate all six of them. Hopefully this was the culprit and we are not still looking for another snake! I guess I will have to wait and see if any more eggs disappear.

A Boy And A Chick

I guess the fear of chickens is not hereditary!

Bad Words

Bad words are not allowed in my house. Ever.
Today as Noah and Jonah were gathering eggs from the chicken pen, (and I stood safely behind the locked gate) they could not get Beulah to come out of her laying box. I told them to leave her alone and they could come back out later to see if she was out and had left them an egg. Jonah of course listened as well as he usually does and shoved his hand right in Beulah's little nest. Beulah of course pecked his little fingers. I of course made him walk all the way across the chicken yard and out of the gate to where I was standing before I could comfort him. When he stopped crying he used his cute little two year old vocabulary to tell me what happened.

Her bit me! Her bit me right der on mine fingers! Her a... her a... her a BAD WORD!!

He continued on for quite a while but after hearing him call the chicken "a bad word" all I could do was laugh. I think Jonah is going to keep me entertained just as much as Noah has over the years!

First Fruits

We finally have something to show for all the squawking that has been going on in our backyard. Today Noah gathered three eggs out of the chicken pen! I guess we may just have to keep those nasty birds after all.

A, B, C, D, E

I love my husband. I despise chickens. My husband wanted chickens. My husband lost his ever loving mind and bought two hens and a rooster at the auction yesterday. I lost my mind and allowed my husband to live after he bought said chickens. After seeing me not go completely ballistic at him buying three chickens, my husband then turned around and bought two more hens. I then threatened my husbands life and he quit buying.
We now have a chicken coop IN OUR BACKYARD!! I decided that I may as well figure out a way to deal with it since I love my husband. That is not to say that I no longer despise chickens. I still believe that they are disgustingly frightening birds whose only desire in life is to smother me with their feathers so they can then peck my eyes out. However, in order to try and make them seem a little more personable, I gave each of them a biblical name. The hens are Anna, Beulah, Delilah, and Esther. The rooster is Canaan.
I have to admit that they are pretty from a distance, but the first time they escape from that pen, I am sicking the dog on them!

Christmas in...May?

Please meet the newest member of our family. Spotter Bunny Givens.

Some friends (Jerry & Kathleen Mixon) gave Noah a very unusual Christmas present this past year. They told him he could have the pick of any two biddies that he wanted out of their chicken yard. I'm sure all of you know how I feel about chickens and can imagine my reaction to that bit of news. When we went to their house to pick out the biddies, Noah saw that their bunny had just had babies. He decided (with a little prompting from me) that he would rather have a bunny instead of two chickens. Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, and do a little happy dance!

Jerry and Kathleen agreed that when the bunnies got old enough, Noah could come back and get one. When the bunnies got big enough, Joe had procrastinated and did not have the pen built. Then when Joe got the pen built, there were no little bunnies left. Finally a new batch of bunnies were ready and our pen was sitting in the back yard waiting on an occupant.

So yesterday, Noah got his last Christmas present and promptly named him Spotter. Right now Spotter is in the backyard munching on carrots and Noah is one happy little boy.