Our New Arrival

No Lillian didn't come early, but we do have 3 new arrivals in the house!

    

Last weekend Mike and I drove to a farm north of Denver and picked up our long awaited baby chicks.  We ordered them back in February from an ad on Craigslist.  Mike's been teasing me about getting chickens and a goat to help keep us more self-sustainable for years now.  While the goat is still a little too much to contemplate, I agreed chickens wouldn't be that much much work (and more important they won't wreak havoc on my garden like a goat would!). 

Of course, the family had to come over and meet the chicks.  I wasn't sure how Holden and Everett would react but both warmed up to them right away!

As I took this picture of Everett, he spoke his first clear sentence any of us can remember.  He quite clearly said "She is so cute!".  The next morning as Kim drove him to school he cried the whole way saying, "Courtney's House!, "Courtney's House!".  I guess my chicks have won him over!

Most of our friends and family are really excited for us and hopeful that we'll share fresh eggs with them!  But there are a few naysayers in our lives who think getting chickens just weeks before our baby arrives is a little crazy.  I think a lot of this doubt is stemmed from people just not understanding what raising chickens is all about.  We've done our research, Mike is in the process of building a chicken coop right now.  The most important requirement is keeping them safe.  Chickens are easy prey to wild animals.  Our neighborhood is home to fox and raccoons, but, I'm more concerned about keeping Droste out! 

The chicks live in a Rubbermaid tote in our downstairs bathroom with a heat lamp on them 24 hours a day.  It won't be long till they're too big for that tote!  They've already doubled in size since last weekend when we brought them home!