Everyone already knows about Nora's birthday surprise...her baby chicks. We've posted some pictures on Facebook, but they haven't made too much of an appearance on our blog. Now's their time to shine. When Nora got them they were 2 and 4 days old. She did handle them often and they have survived. These are our first pets as a family. (I don't think we could handle much more honestly.) They grew quite fast considering they are both a little over 10 weeks old now. We didn't know if we had roosters or hens but we named them anyways. The brown one reminded us of a chipmunk so his name is Chip. The grey one we named McNugget but Aaron didn't really like it so we compromised for Maximus McNugget. Turns out Chip's a rooster and Maximus McNugget is a hen. Oh well!
When we got them it was just a fun, temporary thing. Turns out we grew a little attached to them and decided eggs would be a good thing so we're keeping them. (Much to the dismay of quite a few family & friends!)
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After about 6 weeks of living in our garage/backyard they had to have more space. I justified having them at home because our HOA covenants say 2 caged birds (!) are okay. I didn't think a chicken coop would qualify as a cage though. We also are a little short in the yard area so Aaron built them a new coop and moved them to my Mom's. My grandpa, Rara, calls it the Taj MaCoop. It was pretty massive for two young chickens. We knew we wanted more than 1 hen so we did some bartering and got 6 more hens from my Dad's. {Who am I kidding...Farmer PeePaw and his neighborhood are probably outnumbered by his chickens at his house & farm. He willingly offered some he would not be mating. He tries to keep the breed perfect ones for mating since most of his chickens are rare species.}
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| 3 laying boxes for the eggs...one day |
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| The window was my 1 request...curious minds need to see in! The wheels get put on when Aaron moves it every week or so. It may even help Lala & Gpa Steve grow some grass, some day, with all that 'fertilizer'. =) |
Since Chip is a rooster, we weren't looking for fertilized eggs, no one likes a rooster obnoxiously crowing all hours of the day or night, and roosters can be a little hostile we sent him to live on the farm. Literally. PeePaw's farm where he was hatched. They spent a few days together with all the new hens and you could really tell the difference. Maximus is the prettiest of the hens and Chip was so protective of her. The two of them were always together and the rest of hens were together. Without Chip we were hoping (and it appears to have) then hens would all get along. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't heartbreaking to separate Maximus McNugget and Chip. I'd also be lying if I said tears never welled up in my eyes. Chip was panicked in his car cage and pacing to figure out how to get back in the coop with Maximus McNugget.
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| "Bye Chip!" |
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| Jacob loves to watch these chickens |
A few words of advice: If you ever find yourself with baby chicks, don't think you won't fall for them. They're so cute & tiny. Their poop doesn't smell nearly as bad for the first several weeks. They do grow up though. They end up not so cute (but still really soft!). They don't ever listen and come when you call them. However, we have one hen that comes close by when we are out there. Maximus won't come to me, but she always acts like she wants to. PeePaw has one rooster, Chip, that comes near him as well. They aren't as scared of people...which was my whole intention of handling them a lot their life. I mean, as it turns out, they are our pets afterall. And finally, if you decide to keep them start saving. A chicken coop is NOT cheap! Nora loves visiting the chicky-chicks (as she still calls them) at Lala's house & we can't wait to visit Chip really soon!
