Happy Easter from my Baby Chicks

Happy Easter Everyone! It is hard to believe that I became the proud mother of three beautiful chicks two month ago! Some questions that keeps coming up are "Do you still have them" " How big are they now" "Are you going to eat them"

Lets make one thing clear - I am NOT going to eat my chickens! They were more so of a pet. Would you eat your dog? Probably not! 

After hatching, the chicks were with me for a week after which they all returned to the farm to rejoin their broods. I also returned all the hatching equipment back to the company.

I do not know how big they are now, but on the day I returned the chicks to the farm, they had already grown 30% more. All three of them had gained strength in their flight feathers and were able to jump off of things. The black one actually flew up onto my knee when I was sitting on the floor! Another day or two, they would have been able to fly and jump out of the bin I was keeping them in! So it was definitely time for them to return to the farm because I was not about to have three chicks free-ranging in my bedroom and crapping every where.

 Chickens grow FAST, so at two months, they would be "teenagers." The adult type feathers would have come in now, so no more soft fluffy balls of cuteness. They definitely would not fit into the palm of my hand anymore. Their feet and beaks would also be significantly larger and would probably hurt if they tried to peck or scratch. 

If you are wondering what names I gave to my feathered trio 

BATMAN - was the black coloured larger chicken. He was quite the personality. 

Salted Egg Yolk (Salty) - the first born and larger of the yellow bantams. 

Tamago - last to be born, the tiniest and calmest of the three and my personal favourite.  

After hatching and keeping chickens for a week, I have learned chickens eat A LOT. For three tiny little birds, this trio ate non-stop and demolished several egg yolks and an overflowing zip lock bag of baby bird feed. Chickens also POOP a TONNE. Makes sense given their voracious appetite. Chickens also smell because constant pooping. 

Something I did not expect was how close of a bond the three would form with one another. Particularly the little yellow bantams to the larger black chick. Perhaps they saw Batman as a bit of a mother-figure because they would constantly run after him and try to cuddle underneath him. The Bantams being small need warmth otherwise they shiver... SO CUTE. If I separated the yellow ones from the larger black one, they would peep super loud. Batman would run around chasing the sound to find the yellow ones. Seriously precious. 

Having to part from them was tough, but like I said, I was not about to have chickens flying around and covering my bedroom in poop. Nope, no thank you. Several cities in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley do allow you to keep chickens in your yard, but it was not something my family was interested in. Curious to know if someone has chickens at home!

BYES