everyone poops

It's Spring time, which means warmer weather and baby chicks!

We have just added a brood of adorable little chicks to our farm; right now twelve in all - four New Hampshire Reds, four Partridge Rocks, and four Brown Leghorns.

The Partridge Rocks and Brown Leghorns

Close up of the New Hampshire Red

Since they are still very small and it still gets pretty cold at night, we are currently keeping the chicks inside a large bin in one of our spare bedrooms. I have been keeping the room locked up like Fort Knox so that they are safe from our dog and cats (especially our cat Dennis who is pretty clever and has a knack for opening doors). I've become somewhat of a mother hen, checking up on them several times a day and constantly making sure that the door to the room is securely locked so that anything nonhuman (looking at you Dennis) cannot get in. All of this has made me aware of the fact that I may have a little touch of the OCD.

The chicks have also forced me to confront my fear of poop...one-on-one and on a daily basis, mind you. And well, a big step in the world of farming is conquering any fear of poop.

I still hate it but I no longer fear it.

Chicks poop and when you have twelve chicks, there is going to be a lot of it. Now, it is not as often as you may be thinking (at least I thought it would be way more) but it is still quite frequent and it just drops wherever they see fit (even in their water!). The odor is not really an issue because of cedar chips and changing the chips on a regular basis, but still, I have touched chicken poop way more than I would like to. Although, I have previous experience in the poop area; I have two cats after all, and I actually think that cleaning out a litter box is much, MUCH worse. Also, my husband and I were once the proud owners of a couple of ducks - which is a tragic story for perhaps another time - and well, as anyone that has ever had ducks can tell you, they poop nonstop.

I'm sure dealing with a little chick poop is nothing to all you veteran farmers but it's baby steps people.

And I do love having chicks! They are not at all hard to take care of and are very fun to watch (and so darn CUTE!). We've previously owned chickens but it was my husband who had them and I didn't enter the picture until they were full grown. I loved having the chickens and was sad when we had to send them to a friends (who also had chickens) in the process of trying to sell our house and moving. For anyone with the ability to have chickens, I give them a high recommendation. Not only will you have free eggs, but chickens also love munching on mosquitos, fleas, spiders, ticks, and other pests (what's not to love about that).

You just have to deal with a little chicken poop...

If you ever want to see a whole lot of cuteness, travel to a feed and seed store to check out their stock of chicks. Maybe they will also have some ducklings, which may just be the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Chicks follow the light.