CHICKENS....

I have so wanted to journal more about what has been happening around our home, but so many things compete for my time. The biggest news right now is that Eric is in Haiti for two weeks. He is having a wonderful time. We talk to him every couple days and have enjoyed hearing little snippets of what he is doing. We can't wait to have him home. The kids and I have been staying very busy! I am near exhaustion most nights and haven't been able to get everyone settled down and in bed before 9pm!

We have HUGE news to share....
Today marks the day that we officially entered the land of no return!




Preparing the Area







Laying the Foundation




After much planning we purchased 16 baby chicks.




With Eric in Haiti for two weeks and summer just around the corner the kids and I thought it "perfect timing" to get some chicks(actually tonight I wondered what got into us with Eric being away and such, what was I thinking???)





The half finished chicken coop sits proudly up on the hill waiting to be roofed and dressed with the siding. Until then, the little chicks need to be under the heat lamp at night.
The kids and I constructed a make shift "day coop" for the little brood of chicks. What fun we had figuring out what to use and how to best make it work.
(Our duck Sunny "visiting" the chicks}

The girls were nearly bursting with excitement and even set about naming them, most of the names coming from characters in Beatrix Potter Tales.


I felt honored that they named one Ayme after there mother...the other Rhode Island Red is Anne (as in Anne of Green Gables)! So far there is Sally Henny Penny, Flopsy, Mrs McGregor, Tiggy, Mopsy, and Smudge.




I have to admit that this has all been very fun today. Of course it is great to see the kids so excited and happy however to FINALLY get the chicks after so much planning and reading up on this whole process (Eric did most of that, thanks Babe!)is just plain EXCITING. We now have 2 Barnvelders, 1 Barred Rock, 1 Buff Leghorn, 2 Australorp (supposedly the best layers), 2 New Hampshire Reds, 2 Rhode Island Reds, 3 Black Marans (these lay dark chocolate brown eggs!), 1 Wellsummer, and 2 Ameraucanas that lay light blue-green eggs. If all goes well they should start laying around Thanksgiving!

Now I'm off to bed as Thomas has been waking up around 5:30 since Eric left and things are sure to start real early here on our little "farm".


One last picture of Thomas...this one proves that mud is the name of the game around here!