candidbytracy: May 2012

so. we have chickens. and this is the story:

two weeks ago, on a super busy-get a run in right after breakfast-tball game- home-shower-throw a load of laundry in quick so we can get to baseball and then go to work kind of weekend, i ran down to the basement to start the laundry and couldn't help but notice something different out the window.

they were so busted.

i saw what appeared to be the startings of a chicken coop under the deck stairs.
hmm, i thought. that looks like a chicken coop.
so i asked them. they had no idea what i was talking about.

i played it cool. because i love surprise pets. they know that.

i suggested that since we almost already had the coop,
maybe we should think about getting some chickens.

history: andy has wanted chickens for, like, ever.

immediately after i said those magic words,
there was a about a five minute rapid firing of plans
and ideas about us becoming city living chicken farmers.

since nobody had officially 'fessed up to the secret plan,
i tried to get some inside info from the one least likely to keep a secret.
even after i told her that i knew all about it, she refused to tell.
"does dad know that you know?" and "i'm not talking about his anymore."

it's amazing to me how quickly they became experts. about chickens.
the next day, they woke me up at 6:30 with about a million chicken facts
that they had read from their chicken farming book
that they had bought at farm and fleet the night before.
they showed me pictures on the internet
of what kinds of chickens they wanted to raise and why.
they explained the difference between a brooder and being broody.
etc, etc, etc.

to make a long story still not that short,
we have four day old baby chicks.
in the basement, in a brooder.
and a few after-school-coop building projects to do.

and in a few months, some eggs to eat. and probably share.
because we're chicken farmers. who live in the city.
and i'm a good sport.

the names:

court named hers sally. she wanted to change it to skittles,
but we convinced her to stick with her first choice.

swede: because it's an australian breed and swede loves all things australian.
besides, we name all of our surprise pet birds swede.

the rest of them are named after jilted bachelorettes:
because we watch every episode of every season
and we thought it would be a nice tribute.
don't judge. season 8 starts 5/14/12 at 7pm central time
on abc in case you want to set your DVR.