Day 72

As most creatures do, our chicken children got bigger. The small dog kennel in our living room wasn't cutting it. Our girls needed a bigger place. Plus, I think they were fine with finding a space away from our cats. Being springtime, we decided to sacrifice putting a car into the garage so that we could set up a bigger kennel for the new additions. Of course, springtime in Wisconsin also meant less than ideal temperatures for growing chickens so extra space heaters became part of our chicken expenses. This would just be a temporary place for the girls while their coop was being created. Our hope would be that by the time their “adult” feathers grew in, their coop would be ready for a move in. We had a few weeks until my spring break. This is when I would put my handiwork to the test as I attempted to transform a horse stall in the barn into a chicken coop.

While the girls grew, so did their appetite. The specialized poultry food designed for chicks was simply not enough. They wanted to do more than peck at crumbs. We enjoyed experimenting with new foods. When digging out parts of our new garden, we found worms and fat, juicy grubs. Even though they loved their treats, the chickens were not nearly as excited  about getting the treats as the kids were when giving them. In a Pavlovian turn of events, the girls associated our every visit with food so they became very fond of us rather quickly.

The chicky chores remained the same. Feed. Water. Clean. Repeat. We also had to continually monitor the temperature to make sure they didn't get too cold.

As we completed the chores, we started noticing various chicken personalities. Some loved being handled. Some were skittish. Some were a little bit of both, depending on what child was doing the handling. Our daughters were much more gentle than our little man, though all three children loved their new chicken friends all the same.

What we didn't love was the speed at which they were growing. Sooner than later, they would be ready for their coop. 

But were we?