Yes. I've gone ahead and done it. I purchased some baby chicks. 6 total to be exact. We've had some casualties at Ethan's hands. He dropped the chick and our dog Bella got to her. Bella either thinks of these small yellow puffballs as little yellow snacks or as little yellow toys, I'm not sure. They just about drive her out our her mind. She paws at the cage, she whines, she paces, she watches. I don't know what to do with her except to keep her away from them at all costs. Ttoday we had another casualty. It was my fault. I put a spare piece of timber up in the corner as a perch until the rest of the chicken coop is finished and it fell on a chick thanks to a good shove from Ethan. He was ramming up against the coop because he wanted to get into it. And the moral is: all wooden objects must be secured to the coop.
I decided to do this because I thought it would be an interesting experience for me and the kids and also because we would have organic all-natural eggs without the hormones. So much of our foods now have hormones, it is insane! And, if I can do one more thing nutritionally for my kids, maybe that one more thing will make a difference.
It is amazing how much the chicks have grown in the week we have had them. They are little characters too. I have had them upstairs in the bathroom in a large clear plastic bin. They very easily scale the side and perch on the side of the bin or wander around on top of the bathroom counter or get stranded way down below on the floor. When I hear the shrill chirp chirping, I know one of them is in trouble and come to the rescue.
On the down side, these buggers are messy! They poop everywhere. They spill their food everywhere. They get their food in their water and mess it up too. But, it's been fun watching them grow and watching the kids watch and interact with them.
Ethan is very funny with the chicks. He exclaims, "Mom, they are so boo-tiful!" He repeats this over and over again. He wants to be hands on with them. I have to watch him to make sure he is gentle. He always has to be supervised when he is around them, we don't want any more casualties. When they get bigger they will be able to fight him off much better.
The other kids, Bekkah, Steven, and Jonathon watch over them. They clean out the water, rescue them when they get out, give them more food. Bekkah is willing to clean their cage. Steven wants no part of it. He is afraid of getting his hands dirty. I think I see some plastic disposable gloves coming his way in the very near future. This is a whole family project.
I am especially looking forward to them laying eggs for us. In about 4 months plus or minus they will start producing and then we will start gathering. I have never had fresh eggs before, but I have heard that the flavor is amazing. We will see.
So, there you go. That's my project. That's why I have been busy as of late.
Besides the chickens, I have been working on some raised planter beds in the back yard for a garden. I figure if we can't keep grass alive, maybe we can raise some vegetables instead. Ethan really enjoys the watering aspect. Somehow he needs to learn how to be "soft" with the plants because we have lost 2 tops to 2 of the plants. I'm hoping they will continue to grow despite this setback. Time will tell.
Well, that's all. I'm busy now watering and chick tending. I'm sure there are some of you that think I'm off my rocker. That's ok. I like to keep life interesting. And, my little farm will certainly keep it interesting for me.
Friday Steven finally finished up his Idaho project. He had to design a float using a wagon to be wheeled around and shown to all the grades. In addition, we baked 260 bite-size potato chip cookies for him to pass out as "souvenirs" to the students in other grades. Mostly except for a few kids, they got rave reviews about them. You can taste very little of the potato chips. It mostly tastes like a chocolate chip cookie.
