When you’ve been in quarantine too long

I bought chickens.

Technically I have been considering this for a few years. There is some degree of overlap with rabbits  that I was exposed to when I was doing all my bunny prep research. And we do go through a fair amount of eggs. Mr. W was not totally keen on the idea and I was content to see how things went with the rabbits. But a couple of times when we’ve been in farm stores in early spring we have heard the siren song of the peep peep peep and the children and I have contemplated life with chicks. But I read that due to salmonella concerns that it isn’t advised to have children younger than 5 handle chickens. That might not be applied by rural, homesteading families, but for a city dweller it seemed reasonable enough and a good reason to hold off ‘til your youngest is older.

Little Miss is 6 now. And we’re under quarantine. There are mad rushes on toilet paper and yeast. Could eggs be next? During the early days of the pandemic when the schools first closed we had a morning meeting welcoming our returning and new homeschool students to our class. We forecasted what we would like to do during the remainder of our homeschool year; in addition to planting our vegetable garden, raising chickens came up. I totally support that idea and we brainstormed what we would need to undertake and be responsible for so that Principal Daddy would agree to our proposal. And he was open to the idea!! The corona fears were getting to him too.

I love a good surprise for my children. I dreamed of storybook and movie quality surprises as a child and that was just not my parents’ thing. Since the shelter in place orders were happening during Lent it just seemed a given to gift chicks to the children on Easter Sunday. We are allowed 3 city chickens, and we have 3 children so that is where we will start. I picked them up on Good Friday, which might be when I picked up the bunnies from a 4H family 3 years ago, and then had to keep them hidden in the garage for a day and a half. Because we made the final commitment this week we had slim pickings for what varieties of chicks were available for pick up. I did want a variety so that each child's pet looked different and it is easier for me to tell them apart. The varieties we ended up with are a Barred Rock, a Blue Hamburgs, and a Cream Brabanters. Ultimately I think that will be a good mix looks wise, hopefully temperamentally too. I'm excited to see which child picks which chick and what they will choose to name them.

Meanwhile I'm stealthily sneaking out to the garage frequently so that I can snuggle them. I cannot wait until Easter Sunday to see their little faces!