Cheerful Chick

 Springtime on the farm makes me one Cheerful Chick!

Warmer weather means we can let the cluckie girls roam free.  They are having great adventures as they peck their way around the property.  They are sure to give the dogs a wide berth, but other than that, they can be found anywhere. 

The hen's egg production is up again.  Six hens provide just about the right amount of eggs for our family.  But to give some away or sell any, we were going to need more...

Introducing our new chickie-babies!

Saturday we brought home 10 chicks: 5 Barred Rock and 5 Rhode Island Reds.

We have 2 adult Barred Rock in our brood; they are the black and white ones.  We knew we wanted more of them because they are so docile and friendly.  They are also really good layers. Our adult Brown Leghorns are great layers, too, but they are skittish and flighty.  The Rhode Island Reds are a new breed for us. They are supposed to be calmer than our Brown Leghorns, so hopefully they won't scare the kids (Anlynn and Lucy) as easily.

 Anlynn is working to overcome her fear of chickens by spending more time with the less-frightening chicks.  She will probably never truly love hens, but I'm hoping she'll at least be able to gather eggs without crying and screaming and running for the hills!

 The boys are completely fearless.  They have absolutely no hesitation when it comes to scooping up chicks or petting hens or gathering eggs as hens fly down at them from the rafters. 

We had a little extra fun at the feed store.

These were taken a few weeks ago when we were scoping out new chicks and prices.  

I have funny kids!

I feel as though I should note here that Anlynn was at dance class, and that is the reason she is not in these fun and silly pictures. ;)