Spring is a coming!`

So, last year, when Cocoa-Cluck left us, the humans came into the yard and started crying (such an annoying sport), and kept saying that we would get new chicks in the spring. And now, everybody is saying that "Spring is a Coming!" I think that means we will be adding to ourselves! I can't wait for Spring.

I wonder if Cocoa-Cluck will be the father of the chicks. Maybe, I could even be the adoptive mother! That would be awesome. We'll have to play it by beak, but you never know.

Merry Chick-Mas from Henrietta

It's freezing here. I felt snore for my first time a few days ago, and it was really, really cold. Honey seems to think that we will get new chickens, because of the name "Chick-Mas." I don't think so. It's so cold that a new chicken wouldn't survive. Panty-paws seems like a nice guy. I wonder if there is a chicken version, maybe Panty-toes. I don't know. Cinnamon says there probably isn't, but it's nice to wish and dream.

I hope I get a bunch of food for Chick-Mas, I don't really care what kind of food, but something. Apparently, we got a Chick-Mas Treve feast, just like Honey predicted.

It's snoreing, and I'm getting cold. Better go.

Love,

Henrietta

Merry Chick-Mas from Honey!

The owners are all excited. I don't know why. It's the coldest time of the year, and they're dancing about ranting and raving about Chick-Mas. I have a feeling it has to do with us, or baby chickens, which means we might be getting new friends. Apparently, there are "Peasants" under the Chick-Mas Tree which is in their living room. I don't know why they have the Chick-Mas Tree in the living room, where WE, the CHICKENS can't even see it! The sun says that the leaves are very sharp on your tongue, but taste delicious. I hope we get Peasants, too. Maybe, we'll get a feast, too.

Apparently, some flying guy named "Panty-Paws" comes to your house to give you presents. I'm crossing my toes that our coop is on the list!

Sincerely,

Honey

Winter is a coming

Burr! It's really getting cold these days. The other day, these white flakes of water started coming down. Honey really has been enjoying them, but they hurt my feet. I, a Polish hen was never bred to withstand cold white flakes. My feathers are starting to freeze. Luckily, our owners put a light up that we used as chicks. It kept me really warm last night.

Our owners love the white flakes, and Cinnamon calls it "snore." Apparently, it's going to last a few months. The good news is, Honey told me that she heard the owners talking and they said that when the snore is gone, we will get some baby chicks! She also said we will get stinging things, which I'm not as excited about.

-Henrietta

Message from Cinnamon

The other day, my owners came out, and just started chanting "Go, Cinnamon! Go, Cinnamon" and it was really weird. I went inside to talk to Honey about it. She said that she thought that since I wasn't laying a lot of eggs that they where chanting for me to lay more eggs. I was delighted! I went back outside, but they where gone. Honey came out to talk to the sun. I heard "egg" and "Cinnamon" and "lay." I began to get curious. After she finished, I had the urge to lay an egg. I went inside, and went into a nest. Honey came in, after I laid. She was happy, and when my owners came to collect it, I knew they would be, too.

-Cinnamon

Chicken Tips

I had been feeling overwhelmed off and on as I learned more about raising chicks. Chicks are evidently a lot trickier to take care of then grown hens. There is so much advice out there – don’t use shredded newspaper or they’ll slip and die; put rocks in their water dish so they don’t fall in and drown; be sure they have just enough heat the first week, and then back it off by so many degrees every week after. . . . The tips were endless.

This reminded me of my years running a small non-profit. People were always coming up with a new suggestion, great idea, or helpful tip. My approach was to embrace them all. However, often times suggestions simply weren’t practical or made no sense given the size of our staff. So I would sift through these helpful hints, and use what worked for the organization, letting the not-so-helpful tips sink to the bottom.

When it came to raising chicks, I read up plenty, searched the Internet, and talked to lots of chicken owners. I was overloaded with tips just like at the non-profit. Luckily, I’ve had lots of experience sifting through advice!

There never is a perfect time

We had gone back and forth about when we should get the addition to our family. It seems there is never a good time. We were trying to coordinate their arrival around my brother’s wedding, as we would be gone a week for the festivities. We wanted to be properly educated and have everything set up just so – the coop, the chicken run, and the fence. Of course we wanted Ryan’s list of crucial chicken raising questions answered properly.

Surprisingly, that night when I shared this information with Ryan, we both came to the sudden realization that we had better act now – as in why wait until the chicken coop is patched up, and the chicken run is built? Since the chicks would be living inside with us, we had two whole months to get to those details.

So the next day we went to get our chicks. We were reminded that we can spend our whole lives planning and preparing for special events. At some point we just have to jump in and do it. I remember trying to decide when was the ideal time to get married, or when we should have our first child. It seems there is never a perfect time. At some point we have to go for it!