We've had a big week and I hope to get it all recorded right away. First thing on the docket is our approach into farm life. I doubt it will get much closer than this, but I'm loving it right now.
A few weeks ago I got a phone call informing me that "Grandpa thinks the little boys need to hatch some chicks..." and after a few minutes of securing the details I learned the process would not be taking place at Grandpa's house. Haha. The incubator would be coming our way and we'd get to see it all happen at our house. To be honest, this didn't really bother me at all. I'm not a major animal lover, but I don't mind them either. I guess I'm fairly indifferent, but baby anything is so adorable so I was on board.
The first action started to happen on Thursday. There was a ton of anticipation and the first little guy finally hatched right about bedtime. We let the boys stay up to see it and Tyler named him Chucker.
Once he was hatched I was a nervous wreck. I had read different peoples' advice and stories online (so dumb) and was nervous one might die. Who knows what I would have done to prevent that, but I really just didn't want to kids to wake up super early all excited to see if more chicks had hatched and find one dead before I did. So I slept on the couch where I could hear them and be aware enough to check on them. Here's what I did for most of the night... stared at a lonely chick.
A little before 6am I woke to a bunch of cheeping and wouldn't you know it... another chick had hatched!! After that I headed to bed and probably 45 minutes later Colby informed me we now had three chickens. That third one really shocked me because it didn't seem anywhere close to hatching when I checked less than an hour before. The boys were so excited to find out there were more when they woke up and Tyler exclaimed, "Marshall!! Chucker is not alone anymore!" It was so cute.
#4 snuck right out of his shell while Tyler and I were both in the kitchen, I was doing dishes, and #5 sat in half his shell just long enough for me to yell to Tyler to hurry and come see him hatch. We caught the end of that one on the video camera for Marshall to see when he got home from school. At this point we had Chucker, Black Jet, Fluffy, Crusher, and Estelle; named by Tyler, Marshall, the boys, Daddy, and Mommy, respectively.
The sixth one hatched later on Friday and it just so happened that we were all home to see the whole process (this one was strong and fast) and Aunt Megan even got to watch on Facetime. It was a tiny bit of a shock to her that a chick is not so cute right when it first hatches. I sent her this picture once he finally got on his feet.
Saturday was Marshall's birthday and we were so excited for the 7th egg to hatch that morning before Marshall's soccer game. This was the only chick that was not mostly black with some white markings. It was decided after the game that #6 would be named Pepper because of the black marking on his beak and #7 would be Ralph, after Wreck It Ralph. He was pretty yellow looking at first but has definitely become a more golden brown.
If I had to choose a favorite, Ralph is the prettiest, Fluffy is the sweetest, and Estelle is just great because I named her and she's the smallest of them all. Fluffy stayed right by tiny little Estelle when she was first hatched and seemed to have a real motherly instinct. It made me assume she is a she. We haven't bothered one little bit to be certain of genders otherwise... their names seem to have determined that instead.
In this picture, Marshall is holding Black Jet and Tyler is holding Chucker.
This is the first five when they got moved into their little home on our kitchen table. It's fun having them right where we can see them but they are starting to make our whole house stink so they'll probably be heading out to the garage soon. If I remember correctly, the one on the very left is Black Jet, to the right of him is Chucker, at the very top is Crusher, the one with the most white is Fluffy, and Estelle is the small one at the bottom of the picture.
Karter and Brigham ended up with nine hatching, I think, and they and us shared a few with Great Aunt Diane so her Kindergarten class could enjoy having chicks around. We said goodbye to Crusher and Pepper and used the money they were paid to put in their Disneyland Jar. (Yes, we are saving for a someday trip to Disneyland.) The plan is to sell the others as they get a little bigger because Daddy says we are not ready for chickens at our house just yet. And Mommy wasn't sure if she did or didn't want them, so it's a good thing Daddy knew what he wanted.
I have to say, they have been a fun little distraction. They are so cute and have funny mannerisms. The other night I found myself staring over them, just watching instead of going to bed. It's hard to not get attached... I think the goal of Disneyland is the only thing that will allow the boys to part with them. Here's Macy checking them out. She likes them too.
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