Hey Chicks

Over here at the Neal house, we have a thing for chickens.  And eggs.

A couple of years ago, my husband built a pretty nifty indoor/outdoor chicken coop and since then we've had chickens and fresh laid eggs.

We find chickens, oddly, relaxing.  They are not the sharpest tools in the shed, but they are incredibly social and are fascinating to watch. 

Did you know that chickens don't move in the dark?  One night we had them loose in the backyard and forgot about them, so they couldn't get back in the coop.  We got out our flashlight to find them.

They were just a few feet from the coop, nestled on a step.  We tried to direct them to the open door, but they would not move.  We had to carry them in.  I think they were ticked at us!

One of our favorite ways to hold these chicks, is upside down.  If you hold them like that and press your finger gently on their breast they go to sleep.

  

Last year we got an Ameraucana breed.  It lays blue eggs.  So pretty.  I like to collect these over a week and gift a basket of blue eggs for a special treat.

Ameraucanas are beautiful birds with fluffy cheeks.

It's almost spring and the chicks, ducks and turkeys are in your local farmer supply stores.  It's a a fun place to visit even if you don't raise chickens, especially with little children.

We are down to 2 chickens and with Ethan back home I've actually had to buy eggs from Costco!  That boy can eat!

So, we went chick shopping.

Came home with 3 leghorns (they are totally white and are awesome layers), another Ameraucana, a sexlink (yup, that is what they are called...it's the tan one) and a black austrolorp (just to keep thing interesting). 


We'll be swimming in eggs come summer, as it takes about 5 months before they start.

In the meantime, we get to enjoy this little sweeties.  We all have the responsibilty to handle the chicks everyday.  This 'tames' them.  They are already sprouting feathers on their wings and are just TOO adorable.