I bet you can’t read the title of this blog post without breaking into song, at least in your head, haha. If you’re over the age of 40 you probably remember that hugely successful group, The Oakridge Boys, and their hit song, Elvira. I just finished listening to it on Youtube as I sat down to write this post. I’ll likely have it on repeat in my head all day now!
I’m here today because I have to share……I’m in love! With six fluffy little chicks. I swear I could spend hours watching them flutter around their brooder (a cardboard box in my den for the time being), peck away at their feeder and sleep. They’re adorable and I know already they are going to be beloved pets in the Léger family. Pets that just happen to provide nutritious food for our family :). I’d like to introduce Elvira (she’s the biggest one of the bunch), Noisette (she has a brown back, no stripes like the others have), Birdie (the smallest chick), Fluffy, Coco, and finally Hey-Hey. As you can see in the pictures, they are growing fast! They were three days old when we picked them up and that was a little over a week ago. In that time, their wings have grown and feathered out and they are getting their tail feathers. I marvel at the speed of their growth from newly hatched chicks to this, not even two weeks later!
We are enjoying learning…..it’s a bit of a learning curve, having never owned livestock before. Can I call them livestock? I always tend to think of livestock as cows, pigs, goats. But they definitely aren’t the same as dogs, cats, hamsters……the type of pets I’m accustomed to and experienced in caring for. It’s become a family affair, we’ve all pitched in to feed, water, and care for them. Doing lots of temperature checks as their environment ideally is kept at a certain temperature depending on their age. We’ve learned about the benefits of adding garlic to their water, and of keeping their little butts clean (look up pasty butt if you are curious about what this can mean for a chick if it’s not watched for and taken care of).
We began construction of our new backyard coop as well in the past week. The chicks won’t be able to use it for many more weeks but we want to have it all ready for them when they can move out of our den or garage into their new space. I decided on a Farmhouse themed coop and together we have planned, sawed, nailed and painted. Well OK, it was mostly my husband who did all that with the help of our two little boys but I did choose the design and painted the coop. I think it’ll be a beautiful addition to our backyard in more ways than one and I can’t wait to start collecting those gorgeous fresh eggs from our girls! Imagine baking with those fresh eggs! I’m honestly just so excited.
Maybe you’re inspired to keep chickens? Reach out if you have questions! I love to share any knowledge we have picked up along the journey and I love to talk about chicken keeping, gardening, anything kitchen related, Homesteading…..let’s face it, I love to talk. Those who haven’t seen this side of me, just haven’t hit upon the right topic! Lol. I look forward to chatting, please leave me a comment below!