Return to Blogging After a Hiatus

Hi.

I'm back.

While I think I haven't changed since my last blog post, Blogger certainly has.  I shall be brief, in the interest of time.  I am overnight call this evening, and hope to get some things done around the house before taking a nap in anticipation of staying up all night.

Actually a lot of things have changed in our life.  As we grow older, we have shifted from getting invitations to weddings for friends.  This Spring, all we are getting are invitations for weddings for our friends' children.  It makes us feel soooo old.....

Another big change around here is that we have FINALLY gotten into the backyard chicken craze.  For starters, we built another shed to house the critters; here Nathaniel stands next to the shed which Augustine and he built with just a little help from me.  It still needs a lot of modifications, such as ventilation ports and a chicken-sized door, but we have time.

What really got us motivated to get this project going was our latest shopping trip to Costco.  They did not have any of those huge boxes of eggs, and so we had to buy smaller containers of eggs.  The children with me just lost it, and insisted that I order chickens that day.

I couldn't go and just purchase eggs right away, but I did do a bit of research instead.  I posted a question on a mailing list which included several families who raise chickens in their back yards in Irving, Texas.  Irving is one of the cities located between Dallas and Fort Worth, and is rather built up.  Despite all the trappings of civilization, they still allow for folks to have small chicken coops in their back yards.  These folks were a wealth of information for us.

Of course, we had to get chest X-rays before we started raising chickens, just to make sure we did not have any lung disease which could be exacerbated by close proximity to chickens.  Here is my film.  

That is the last time I let one of the children in to see how X-rays are made.......

So I looked online at Ideal Poultry, a recommended site where one can purchase chicks.  I assumed that there would be just a few types of chicken to choose from.  Boy, was I wrong.  After spending minutes trying to find out which ones would be the best for us, I came across something called an 'Assortment of Standard Chickens,' which is kind of like grabbing a handful of Cracker Jack and taking whatever comes out.  Basically, it seemed like a good way to get a variety of chickens.

I ordered 25 of them, after picking up some of the basic supplies from our local Tractor Supply Company Store.

The chicks are sent via the U.S. Mail shortly after hatching; apparently they have enough reserve to go without food and water for up to 72 hours.  I called our local Post Office to let them know that we were expecting a delivery, and they told me that they would call us to pick them up when they arrived.  When Carolyn picked them up from the Post Office, she could hear them as soon as she walked in the front door.

So here is a video of the chicks in their first temporary home.  After looking at them, I can see that they will probably need some sort of transitional home before putting them in the coop outside.

I really think it is neat that they all look so unique:


I shall post more information on our chicken endeavor.  For now I have to sign off and get on with life here in North Texas.  God bless!