Spring Chickens

I love taking the kids to experience new and unique things. Loading up the Pilot and making a huge outing of it isn't always necessary to do that though . Just fifteen minutes from our house, we have the perfect spot for hands-on learning and fun - NANA'S HOUSE!

A few summers ago, my mom invested in an endeavor she'd wanted to try out for a while. She bought a few chickens...

Since then, her little farm has grown. While it took a little while to figure out how to protect her fowl from bears, foxes, hawks, etc. who ate up the first two sets she purchased, finally she's got a solid setup and has really been able to enjoy this hobby.

Really, we've all gotten the benefit of her little dream becoming a reality. The kids and I get the opportunity to go to her house regularly to play and explore. 

Right now one of their favorite activities is checking the roosts for eggs: 

Open it, NaNa.

Hadley was a little worried when she found a chicken still on its nest.

And, boy, do those chickens lay! At one point, Mom had more eggs than she knew what to do with. She's been able to keep my sister and I (plus a few other family members) supplied and still had some left over to selll!

At least one of the chickens seemed to be laying over time for a while as Mom was finding more eggs each day than she had chickens. She's also gotten quite a few double yokers.

Can you guess which one is has the double yoke?

This spring she started off with mainly Americanas and Brahmas but was wanting some Rhode Island Reds like she's had in the past, so she picked up a few chicks from Southern States. What a surprise for the kids!

Be gentle, Reid.

Reid kept wanting the chick to nuzzle him.

Hadley wasn't so sure about it.

Mom had so many eggs that she even tried getting some chicks out of her own. When a couple of the chickens started acting like they wanted to go to sitting, she gathered a few eggs, put them in a separate little cage with the momma, waited three weeks, and got baby chickies running everywhere!

In the spring as the weather got warmer, I began taking Hadley and Reid to visit NaNa in the mornings some while Caleb was at school. Then, once I picked him up at lunch time, he'd get to join in the fun too. Even if we'd already checked the nests, back up the hill we'd go to give him a turn.

He loved finding a surprise in there!

One of the highlights is when they'd find a chicken still on the nest. Caleb giggles and giggles. NaNa isn't afraid of reaching right under one to gather that egg either. :)

He loves to do big boy things like letting the chickens and goat out of their pen to roam too. 

They have a blast!

Sometimes Reid is interested in looking for eggs too...

...but a lot of times he's more into exploring or trying to drive the "chicken wagon."

That "chicken wagon" is a great source of fun for all the kids.

My daddy was always a planner, coming up with fun stuff for us when we were kids and then later for his grandkids. While my parents still had a couple 4-wheelers we used when my sister and I were young, Dad thought it might be good to purchase a golf cart for my kids to enjoy since they were way too little for the other yet. Thanks to his forward thinking, we sure have had a good time!

Reid driving Hadley's miniature "chicken wagon."

One day, Granny, Stacey, Anabella, and Dan even got to come play at NaNa's with us.

It was the perfect time for a visit since the chicks had just hatched.

No need to pay to go to a petting zoo.

Look at that bunch of sillies!

Mom took some of the eggs she'd already gathered and filled up the nests to make sure everyone found one.

Anabella and Dan thought NaNa went to fast on the "chicken wagon." Bell even asked her to slow down!

Is this a glimpse of what we have to look forward to when these boys are teenagers?

The girls are making sure NaNa's garden gets watered.

Dan kept trying to get his wild man cousin to drive responsibly.

Looks like we've got a wild little girl too. 

NaNa even had some lemonade waiting. What a great entertainer.

Picking and tasting some mint.

Now that summer's arrived, I'm sure we'll have quite a few more days spent checking out NaNa's chickens and watching those baby birds grow.

What fun! I love raising my kids in the country...