Chickens

I still have three "dreams" ... to have a clothesline, to have a garden, and to have chickens.


Two of these dreams have been accomplished, or at least attempted. I've got a clothesline, and LOVE it. We tried gardening last year, the year of the infernal drought. That was a bust! BUT ... I still enjoy a few plants and flowers. Close enough. But the chickens ... ahh, they still remain out of my grasp.


After the solid month of puppy care recently that put me into an exhausted zombie state, I realized that at this point in my life, I cannot be tied down with constant care of an animal of any kind. I have almost too much as it is. My guys have two completely different work schedules. Then there's homemaking and all that entails - I should make a list of THAT job description sometime. (But I feel that homemaking is my CALLING, and I do enjoy it!) Plus homeschooling our younger son. Let's just say my plate is FULL! But you add in animal care, and it becomes excruciating, and I become a zombie.


When I was younger, I had a horse, and that was fun, and I enjoyed taking care of it. But that was about all I did, plus school. I wasn't pulled in fifty directions at once.


So at this point in my life yet ... no chickens.


But that doesn't mean I can't still enjoy them.


Older Son works at an ag supply business. Towards spring (which is now), they get in a supply of chicks and ducklings. If I can't buy 'em, at least I can go LOOK at 'em. Awhile back, I took younger Son with me so he could have a "field trip learning lesson" of sorts about chickens. He has had more fun reading the pamphlets and charts about the different breeds of chickens. He likes the "Phoenix" chicken, which (ha ha) happens to be resistant to heat. Boy, we could use that quality around here! But they aren't great egg-layers, so he has tried to figure out having Phoenix roosters crossing with a good egg-laying breed of hens, then having heat-resistsant egg-layers. His mind is always thinking of something interesting. I don't know if I'm teaching him, or he's teaching me! Actually, my approach is to present lots and lots and lots of interesting things and opportunities, and make the learning fun, so he enjoys it. It's working. :)


So anyway, yesterday, when we went to pick up older Son from work, we went a little early and looked at the chicks and ducklings again, as the store had gotten some more in. Younger Son was checking out the breed chart again, while I just leaned on the gate panels and looked over into the tubs and just watched. I learned a lot about chick behavior just by observing them!


Eating.
Scratching in the bedding.
Napping.
Tearing around running into one another.
Scratching themselves. (Itch.)
Drinking.
Stretching.
All this accompanied by the cute "peep-peep-peeping."


I don't know which was cuter ... when one would get a drink, and dip its beak in the water, then tip said cute little beak up in the air to swallow said drink, or when they would STRE-E-E-ETCH one tiny leg back. I tried to imagine how tiny those little chick legs were, and how they might someday end up in a platter of fried chicken.


Back in my grandparents' day, they would get lots of chicks in the spring, I mean 100 or more. This would be eggs AND meat. You wouldn't want to get attached to them, because eventually you'd be wringing their necks, plucking them, cutting them up, and frying them.


Now, I can cut up a chicken. Mom taught me that from early on. But that was with a whole chicken from the store. The dirty work had already been done. Could I actually do those preliminary steps if I had to? *Gulp* ... wringing their necks or chopping their heads off? *Gulp* ... plucking all those feathers out?


I prefer to think about the egg-laying business. I can handle cracking an egg without any remorse!


So until my life gets to a place where I can handle constant "chicken chores," I'll just enjoy them in other ways. (Including the stuffed toy chicken in the photo above! Also note the nesting boxes I got to put supplies in! FUN, I tell you.) Also, I'll appreciate to a new level anyone who cares for animals on a constant basis!