Smores, Peep, Taco, and.... ?

Okay...  What about our family picture is different?  Notice anything cuter?  Fuzzier?  Chirp-ier?

The cat sure noticed....

Chickens!  HA!  Yep.  We have added four chickens to the family.  :)

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Michaela's Chick, "Smores"

Sierra's Chick, "Peep"

Andrea's Chick, "Nutella or Taco"  :)

Scotty's Chick, "Yet to be determined"  (maybe Feathers, maybe Easter)

Now the pet to people ratio is way lopsided...  Pets: 8, People 6. ...and every evening our living room feels kinda like a barn. :)  The chickens are "playing" in the corral, guinea pigs are squealing in the background, and the cats are wondering what the heck is going on.  I just sit by the fire and laugh... because what else can I do?!

...and we have two chickens arriving from school in a month.  That is what started this whole thing.  You know you live in a "farm town" when your daughter brings home a "chicken permission slip" on the first day of school.  Sierra's science class is hatching eggs, weighing them and looking inside them with some special chicken-looking light, etc...  and after the eggs hatch, the chicks need homes ...and guess who said they would take two.  ...Yep, We did.

We were waiting patiently for our school chicks and then one day I saw a sign at the local tractor supply store down the street, "CUTE AND FUZZY CHICKS HAVE ARRIVED".  I drove past it every day for a week until I couldn't take it any longer.  I pulled in and checked the chicks' cute level.  Super Cute!!!  I told Paul to go buy a heat lamp and that night we took all four kids to pick themselves out a new feathered friend.  

LOVE THEM.  I love the chickens.  I'm beyond glad we got them.  They sit next to me at the fireplace all day under their little heat lamp and do chicken-y type things.  :)  You know...  peck, chirp, stretch, etc...   I've added an extra layer of fence because the cats are a little more interested now that they are bigger and flappier.   ...and they sleep in the bathroom.  :)  (Oh goodie... one more thing to "put to bed")

I think what I like most is watching the kids with them.  They all adore their chicks.  We will all sit around the cage watching them like they are some TV show ohne commercials.  :)  I think this is the only way to love chickens.  I'm pretty sure they are ugly when the get big, but right now I just thing they are the cutest things ever....  chirping away next to me as I type.  :)  I think I'll still like them ...even when they are ugly.  :)

...and we've eaten chicken the last two nights for dinner.  I kinda thought the kids would put two and two together and refuse to eat it... Nope.  Sierra is the only one who won't eat birds; I don't think she's eaten a bird in over two years ...not even a turkey on thanksgiving.  :)