Hello everyone,
So my chicken adventure started at the end of my 5 year old daughters school year this last June. Her class hatched a bunch of chicks, my daughter asked if we could bring some home one day when I went to pick her up, and I thought "It's been a while since the wife and I got in a good fight about something stupid I did". So I told my daughter "Sure! We'll take 4".
So we have these four cute fuzzballs of yellow fluff running around and I figured it's good for the kids to handle them several times during the day to get the chicks and the kids (ages 4,5,and 10) used to it. Within the first two weeks, my brother in law brings his dog over while we are out in the front yard playing with the little guys. He assures me that the dog is good around chickens. Well, chickens maybe, but not chicks. So the dog chomps on one of the little guys right in front of the kids. So yeah, they're therapy will be justified. Not a great start, but I have 3 out of 4. That's 75%, which is still a "C" and that was good enough to get me through high school.
Anyway, fast forward a couple days and we're at the local feed store checking things out. They got a bin of baby chicks, ducks, and turkeys (Yes, I WILL learn the lingo) on clearance. 3 bins, one for each kind of bird....foul....whatever. My wife says we should get another chick to replace the one we lost. So the kids and I are like 'cool' lets get that one, or that one. My wife says "No, we're gonna get that one, it's just like the one that died". And it looked exactly like the others!
I noticed a couple weeks down the line that there was something weird about this chicken. I named him "Charlie Sheen" cuz he just always looked like he was coming in from a hard night of drinking. His neck was long, unlike the others. His feet were big and white where the others were yellow. The feathers that he was getting looked messy and were coarse to the touch. The other three were all soft. One did end up being a roo though. I denied this until the morning he woke me up. Then my daughter realized that she could make him crow by squeezing her baby doll which made a very annoying "ma-ma" sound. which evidently the rooster hated too because he went nuts when she did it from inside the house. We said our goodbyes and sent him to live in a place more 'rural' than our backyard in the middle of town.
Sorry......tangent
Back to the chicken. So I am waiting week after week for this thing to pretty up and it just doesn't happen......at all. I thought it was sick, I even blamed my wife for picking that one....."I'm sure the one's the kids and I wanted turned out to look just fine!"
Finally about a month ago. I just got a pen up for them to hang out in when my 18 year old son and his girlfriend stop by and headed out to the back to marvel at my accomplishment. The first thing his girlfriend says was; "That looks like a turkey I used to have."
I hadn't thought of that..........
Face palm
So now I'm here, and I think I have out-newbied most people.
Anything I learn from you kind folks will help a whole lot and will be way more than I knew an hour before so, please, be gentle. I believe I had 4 White Plymoth Rock(s). And, so far, they are really cool. The kids still jump up and run to take care of them.
I am now down to just the turkey and one hen though. there was an unfortunate accident involving my 10 year old son, his hockey stick, and a chicken that shoulda zagged rather than zig. But that's another thread (and another year of therapy).
So my chicken adventure started at the end of my 5 year old daughters school year this last June. Her class hatched a bunch of chicks, my daughter asked if we could bring some home one day when I went to pick her up, and I thought "It's been a while since the wife and I got in a good fight about something stupid I did". So I told my daughter "Sure! We'll take 4".
So we have these four cute fuzzballs of yellow fluff running around and I figured it's good for the kids to handle them several times during the day to get the chicks and the kids (ages 4,5,and 10) used to it. Within the first two weeks, my brother in law brings his dog over while we are out in the front yard playing with the little guys. He assures me that the dog is good around chickens. Well, chickens maybe, but not chicks. So the dog chomps on one of the little guys right in front of the kids. So yeah, they're therapy will be justified. Not a great start, but I have 3 out of 4. That's 75%, which is still a "C" and that was good enough to get me through high school.
Anyway, fast forward a couple days and we're at the local feed store checking things out. They got a bin of baby chicks, ducks, and turkeys (Yes, I WILL learn the lingo) on clearance. 3 bins, one for each kind of bird....foul....whatever. My wife says we should get another chick to replace the one we lost. So the kids and I are like 'cool' lets get that one, or that one. My wife says "No, we're gonna get that one, it's just like the one that died". And it looked exactly like the others!
I noticed a couple weeks down the line that there was something weird about this chicken. I named him "Charlie Sheen" cuz he just always looked like he was coming in from a hard night of drinking. His neck was long, unlike the others. His feet were big and white where the others were yellow. The feathers that he was getting looked messy and were coarse to the touch. The other three were all soft. One did end up being a roo though. I denied this until the morning he woke me up. Then my daughter realized that she could make him crow by squeezing her baby doll which made a very annoying "ma-ma" sound. which evidently the rooster hated too because he went nuts when she did it from inside the house. We said our goodbyes and sent him to live in a place more 'rural' than our backyard in the middle of town.
Sorry......tangent
Back to the chicken. So I am waiting week after week for this thing to pretty up and it just doesn't happen......at all. I thought it was sick, I even blamed my wife for picking that one....."I'm sure the one's the kids and I wanted turned out to look just fine!"
Finally about a month ago. I just got a pen up for them to hang out in when my 18 year old son and his girlfriend stop by and headed out to the back to marvel at my accomplishment. The first thing his girlfriend says was; "That looks like a turkey I used to have."
I hadn't thought of that..........
Face palm
So now I'm here, and I think I have out-newbied most people.
Anything I learn from you kind folks will help a whole lot and will be way more than I knew an hour before so, please, be gentle. I believe I had 4 White Plymoth Rock(s). And, so far, they are really cool. The kids still jump up and run to take care of them.
I am now down to just the turkey and one hen though. there was an unfortunate accident involving my 10 year old son, his hockey stick, and a chicken that shoulda zagged rather than zig. But that's another thread (and another year of therapy).
.
