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| The flock before the new chickadees. |
As Spring came, we decided to get a few more chicks. Gary was not thrilled with this idea, as he had just recently gotten his garage cleaned out (almost enough for a car to park in it)! But, with some encouragement and womanly logic, he agreed we could get a "few"....and the shopping begun.
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| Carol Channing and (not yet known cockerel) Little Bo Peep |
I would hit the feed store every other day or so to check out the chicks in stock. I bought two under the premise that they would be teaching tools in my classroom. Meanwhile, we were trying to hatch a batch of our hens' eggs for the first time. As time went on and I candled several of the eggs, they appeared to be duds. So, I was glad I had bought a couple of chicks. I continued my pilgrimage to the feed store every few days and ended up with a total of 11 including 3 that my colleague successfully hatched in her classroom but didn't have a home for.
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| Little Julia Roberts |
Again, we were in the chick business, so to speak, as far as multiple checks and food and water changes as they dirtied theirs. We now had Julia Roberts, Demi Moore, Carol Channing, and others that were still unnamed. They quickly developed their personalities and we decided we would move them to the little chicken house sooner than the last batch so that we could free up the garage and get them more accustomed to the hens.
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| Bette Davis (front) with two of the young cockerels behind. |
So, out we went to clean the shut up little house and move the fence panels yet again to make a little "yard" for the babies, even though they were yet to be allowed out of their house. They acclimated very well and were thriving!
As the weeks went by, we discovered that we ended up with 3 roosters AGAIN! We had two from the three of my colleague and another that we purchased as a hen....yikes! Time to find homes for them so we won't have to feed them... (we're starting to see that feeding roosters is not a great way to increase egg production).
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| Julia Roberts |
We posted the roosters on craig's list (as were many others that found themselves in the same boat) and got many responses. We ended up giving the roosters to a man that was restarting a flock. And, as we had a couple of hens that were not meshing well with our others, we gave two of our green egg layers to him as well. I am hopeful that he was being honest with me of his intentions, but that's all I can do, right? We have to trust folks at some point. So now our flock has "morphed" again and looks totally different again. It's absolutely amazing how much joy our feathered friends can bring us if we give them the chance!
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| Blondie and Joan Jett |
