Six Chicks!

George

We have pet chickens. Right now we have 6 hens that we call "the chicks". With allergies we can't have indoor pets and we did have outside dog and dogs up until two years ago. I asked that we wait to get another dog until we move out of the "city". But, some how we got chickens two and a half years ago. They have been quite enjoyable as we started our flock with eggs from a relative and hatched them all ourselves. A year after that we hatched some more from our eggs and then we hatched our last batch this spring. I say our last batch as we got rid of our rooster! We still have one chick from our first hatching and she is called "Elephant". "Smokey" is the only one left from our second hatching and "Emma" was the only hen from the third hatching (laid by Elephant, incubated by Smokey, but brought into the house on the final days to hatch as it was rainy and cold outside). This summer we received a "gift" of 5 hens from a relative who was getting out of the pet chicken business. We kept 3 and gave away the other two to friends (having chickens is common in our area). These chicks we call "George", "Georgie", and "Georgia". We are in a neighborhood and really 6 is the limit of chickens that our yard can endure. And trust me our yard is not perfect, but the grass stays nice and green from all the free fertilizer! We do wear rubber boots when we play outside. Surprisingly, the chicks stay in the yard most of the time. They do wonder out a few feet and sometimes on a rainy day they cross the road or go down a house (or two). No one complains and I do ask when I see our neighbors to make sure they aren't a bother and most didn't even know we had them. (I am going to have to replant one neighbor's flowers she had around a tree, next spring.) The chicks are pure joy to watch! They are funny and we get hours of enjoyments watching them around the yard. This week they came up to the back door to say hello and I took some pics. They are a little rough since I took them through the glass, but come and meet our chicks! (Emma is the only one missing from the pic, too much glare of the one I took of her.)

Georgie (or maybe  Georgia), Elephant, and Smokey are up front.