Our House Guests

Where is summer going?  It is so hard to believe that we are into August already!  You may have noticed that I have been absent the last little while.  We have been getting acquainted with our new friends and house guests…7 cute fluffy chickens!

 The kids have been waiting for this moment for almost a full year.  We have been reading lots of blogs about raising urban chickens.  I raised chickens growing up, but that was on a farm where we had lots of space and room for them.  Raising chickens in a small urban backyard is a different story.  Thank-goodness for all the blogs, they have been a wonderful resource.

Every city has their own laws regarding chickens, make sure you check what the laws are in your area.  I am thankful that city is very chicken friendly.  We had to ask all the neighbors within a 100 feet of our property line.  That ended up being 16 houses.  After getting all the signatures that we needed, we then moved on to planning our coop.  The city zoning needed to approve the placement of our coop, and we applied for a permit.  Once our plans were approved we started building the coop and preparing for chickens.

Our chicks went on a vacation to the cabin with us!  I know, I know, but what is a girl to do when we have 7 babies to look after.  They were so little and I could not imagine asking someone to look in on them, so off to the lake they went.  The chicks loved to trip, and were wonderful travel companions.  We set up a little box in the car with a heat lamp so they would not be too cold.  I really wish I would have taken a picture of how cozy they looked.  Once at the cabin, the chicks enjoyed sitting on someones shoulder, being snuggled and played with.  So cute!

Kaleb loves hanging out with the chicks.  I caught him more than once with a chick on his head.  Ha!  This little cutie named Chip since she looks like a chipmunk.

Annika loves snuggling Marshmallow, Marsha for short.  I love the names the kids came up with.

Bree has a soft spot for the 2 smallest chicks Ruby and Chip.

Chip has become part of the family.  She even received a spot at the girls outdoor tea party.  Too funny.

At the moment the chicks are still living in a brooder box in our dinning room.  They spend lots of time outside, but until their coop is finished they are sharing a corner of our home.  I love how these little cuties have become a part of our family.

This is what welcomes us at every meal.  They line up on the edge of the brooder box watching us eat.  They love watermelon, spinach, cucumbers, grapes and many other fresh treats.  I’m convinced if a chicken could beg, these little cuties have it down.

I promise this is not going to turn into a chicken blog, but I thought I would share our newest family members.  If you have urban chickens we would love to hear any tips or advice you have.  We are excited about our new adventure and I can’t wait for our first egg!