Finally Earning Their Keep

It doesn't seem like that long ago that we began our chicken rearing family project.  We thought it would be an interesting experience to adopt 5 little chicks and let the kiddos experience raising them.  

This is where we started.  We adopted 5 tiny week old chicks of all different breeds.  Going in we didn't know if they were going to be males or females (you can't keep roosters in our shire).  We prepared the little people that some of them may have to find a new home.  

The kiddos were wonderful with them.  Helping change their food and water, picking them up daily so they would get use to us.  Tilly picked her favourite very quickly and soon gave her the name "Pretty".  

 It would be at least 8 weeks before we new the gender of our little ones, but low and behold, they all ended up being hens.  (Too bad we didn't buy a lottery ticket that day ;)

They have changed so much and thankfully moved from a crate in our play room out to their designated area in the backyard.  They look so different than the little balls of fluff we adopted a few months ago.  

I find it so peaceful and relaxing watching them over their fence as they peck and scratch around.  We still haven't had our chicken naming party so Pretty is the only one with a name.  We must remedy that soon.  The black one in the picture is the most docile and will follow you around when you are in their pen.  

 The white one below is Pretty and still is Tilly's favourite.  Up until now we have been feeding and caring for them with no fruits to our labour but they peace they bring in watching them.  I love taking our scraps out to the wall and watching them cluck and run over as I toss them down to them.

 It was all work and no reward, that is until the other day. . .  When we discovered our first EGG!!!!! The kids were so excited they each had to have a hold of it.  Since that first day we have had at least 1 if not 2 eggs every day.  It's such a wonderful treat to walk down and find these little treasures in their box.  It gives me such a warm fuzzy feeling eating something where we know exactly where it comes from.  

There were moments when having the chooks has been a pain, like when I was cleaning all the dust out of our spare room when they finally moved out, yet it has been such a great experience for the little people to see them grow and change.  They have loved getting to see where our eggs come from and helping to collect them.  

Any recommendations for chicken names?  

This this week we will put all the names in a box and draw to see how gets named what.