9/52: Chick Days

As you can see, we got our chicks this week!

The kids are ecstatic. And we're having a lot of fun just watching them right now - they're in the mudroom until it warms up a little, at which point we'll move them to their coop (equipped with 3 old vanities as nesting boxes, because we happened to have them...).

We started with a dozen, and may end up getting more - we go through a LOT of eggs, and the kids really want to sell them also, so we'll need more than just 12 laying hens if they want a reasonable surplus!

Cecilia (5) was the first to be brave enough to pick one up on her own, and now she's doing it ALL the time, picking them up to show to the twins and Peter especially. Her special chick is named "Reddy" and is a Rhode Island Red, even though she specifically requested a Speckled Sussex. Then she changed her mind when she saw them...

Peter (15 months) is absolutely tickled pink by them! He LOVES watching them in their brooding box, although we have to keep an eye on him because he really wants to give them all sorts of gloves, shoes, and toys as gifts. Which would either smother them or end up covered with chicken poop so... No thanks.

See him in the video? How cute is that???

Mary Claire (3) has thankfully not been trying to pick the chicks up - she would smother them, I'm sure of it. She *did* throw a screaming fit in the middle of Southern States when we wouldn't let her carry the box of chicks out by herself. Keeping it classy, that's us. Her chick (another Rhode Island Red, even though she requested a Speckled Sussex) is named "Chick chick chick chick chick chick chick, chick chick chick chick chick chick chick, chick chick chick chick chick chick chick, Telephone Wire." She wouldn't let me shorten it, but has finally decided on "Chick chick chick" as a nickname.

Elizabeth (3) has only tried to pick up the chicks once, and was so chastened for it ("Elizabeth! Put that down!!!") that she cried for... An hour? Her chick is named "Chicket" and she calls it "Chickie" for short, which is very important because both names are the exact same length.

John Paul (6.5) was SO scared to pick any chicks up, because he was convinced they would wound him brutally with their beaks and claws. As you can see, he got over it. His chick is named "Philly" and he named the abandoned two Speckled Sussex chicks Orville and Wilbur (Wright) which I think is pretty adorable. 

Mine is named "Nugget" in case you were wondering...