Howdy! The peeps are here!
This past weekend the handsome man and I bounced down to Houston for the weekend for our youngest nephew, and our now Godson's, Christening. (That's me and my only brother, Rex, with Liam above). It's hard to leave the farm but we were lucky enough to call on our neighbors (who I really think we hit the neighbor lottery with) to watch everyone. I felt a little obsessive when I handed them a two page, single spaced, typed direction list of how to care for everyone but, these animals are my babies! The weekend went off without a hitch (for them and us). The pigs only escaped once (not their fault, the pigs are not perfectly hot wire trained yet), and our Godson fell asleep peacefully in the church like the sweet little angel he is :) Mia and Cai (our other niece and nephew) were also the best big sister and big brother. The highlight could have been when the music stopped and Cai cheered. He is very musically inclined!
Above: Mia and Mr. Nick. I am almost positive he just said something she thought was silly and is now telling him, "Uncle Nick, that's not true!" She's smart as a whip.
Our flight landed about midnight on Sunday back in Seattle and we finally got to sleep about 2 am on Monday morning, only to get up bright and early to take care of the animals, which wasn't a problem, except the post office called promptly at 8 am to let us know our peeps were sitting there waiting for us. YIKES! So in true co-parenting fashion Mr. Nick and I juggled our work schedules (yes, we both still have full time jobs as we work to pay off the land) and tag teamed our way to success!
The only hiccup came when Turkish quickly gobbled up a fallen comrade during transfer to the brooder. I wasn't there but Mr. Nick says all it took was one stern look for Turkish to peacefully open up his mouth and surrender the still alive, just a little damp, peep. Since then he's been wonderful, watching quietly with the most perfect worried face. We probably give him too much freedom, but we're "parenting" on the idea that dogs are smart and can understand their limits unique to each situation...I'll let you know if it comes to bite us in the butt :)
And, just in case you forgot. Check out our blog post, You ordered how many chickens?! by clicking here >> It will give you the rundown of our chick order. The only change was a swap for 7 Light Brahmas instead of 7 Cuckoo Marans as our brooders as well as the addition of 6 Easter Eggers (we want to be able to share the delight of having blue eggs with future Farmstead customers). That's a light brahma up above...see how her feathers are already starting on her feet! I was worried about getting this breed because of our wet weather but the hatchery said it should be fine...okay! We trust you!