"There are 94598459345 chickens running around in that house pooping on everything with fire!!"

So, it has been an emotional few days here at The 836. Maintenance came on Wednesday to fix the windows at our house. They saw that we had baby chicks and flipped out. After many e-mails, that had gotten completely blown out of proportion, we had to get rid of my babies. The e-mails first said that the chicks were in the house (they were on the back porch in a box, not running around the inside of the house) and that there was a heat lamp near woodchips that created a fire hazard (By heat lamp I am sure they meant 60 watt desk lamp about 1.5 feet above the woodchips). If I could paraphrase all that those e-mails said I would say this, "There are 94598459345 chickens running around in that house pooping on everything with fire!!" The lady who is in charge of the leasing told me that it was okay to have the chickens at the house, it was maintenance that had the problem with it. She apologized to me for not asking maintenance first before telling me yes.

I had to act quickly and find a home for my babies. A lady from work, Lynnanne, raises chickens. She was so wonderful and willing to take them for me. I had to ask around at the office to make sure that she was a good enough foster parent for my babies. Everyone said that she was and that my babies would be fine. I asked her if I could come and visit them sometime, she laughed at me, but soon realized how serious I was.

On Thursday night we had a going away party for my babies. Janna made some brownies and we brought the kids outside to play. It was great to see them running around and having fun. Some of the neighbors even stopped by to see the kids, pet them, and tell me how cute my babies were. It made me really happy, almost bittersweet. The family photo that is posted here will forever be one of my favorites.

I brought my babies to work today to give to Lynnanne. She doesn't have the same sort of love and affection for my babies as I do, but that's okay because they are mine.

The Colonel, Janet, Boo and Carol (Carl) will always be in my heart. If I ever go to visit them, I'll post on here again and let you guys know how they are doing.

Thanks for reading.....

"Friends"

Today I was reminded of the episode of "Friends" when Phoebe had the triplets for her brother and his wife. They had planned the names out and one of them was going to be named after Chandler (Matthew Perry). Well, the climax of the show is when Phoebe's brother runs into the delivery room waiting area and screams "Chandler is a girl!". Well, today I was out on the deck with the babies and I yelled into the house to Janna, Becky and Mary, "Carol is a boy!!". That's right, Carol is a boy...now named Carl. He is growing his little rooster thingy on his head. That would explain why the chick box has had a lot more commotion in it since we brought him home. Also, while we had them out Carl kept on mounting the other chickens.... he's the youngest, but come on, he's a boy, we gotta expect that, right? Oh dear......

I think I'll go for a walk outside now, the summer sun is calling my name....Colonel!"

So, chickens don't like being taken on walks. They just don't like it and they won't do it. I try to treat my chicks (who by the way are becoming very large) like they are a mix between my own children and puppies. They need to be fed and watered, they need to be played with (like both) and I thought since you could take children on a walk and dogs on a walk, why can't you take chickens on a walk? I got some yarn from Janna and I tied it around The Colonel's neck. I was scared about doing this because I didn't want to break her neck but then I realized that without a head chickens still run around...so maybe that would have helped the situation :) Janna and I brought The Colonel out to the front yard and started on our walk. We never left the front yard. I was really hoping to start being known around the neighborhood as the weird chicken-on-a-leash guy. Oh well.... I'll just have to be known for something else now.

And then the stork came....

Did you know that human babies come from a stork? Did you also know that chicken babies (chicks) come from the stork too? Well, the other day I saw a big stork flying through the air! He was carrying a little bundle of love to our house on Himes Street!

We got our new little treasure on Wednesday. We got a black chicken in order to promote diversity at our house. Diversity@HimesStreet@Huntington. (She is the small black chicken on the right). We held a naming contest in order to come up with a name for her. Some people suggested some really strange names: Bernice, Denise, Chickenshit, and many others. I decided that I wanted to name her Carol. Carol is a very near and dear name to me: It is my mother's name. I haven't told my mom yet though that I named a chicken after her that I plan to eat at some point in my life. Oh, I guess we should talk about that too... I'm going to have to eat these chickens come winter because there will be no where to keep them during the winter. Sadness. Or maybe I'll just send them to the retirement farm.

I think that Carol is doing well adjusting to life on Himes Street. The other chickens were a little stand offish at first, however they are warming up to her. The picture that is posted here is of the chickens cuddling under the heat lamp together.

We are all excited about our growing family. I hope that you'll read and watch us grow.

The Chicken Whisperer

Tonight I re-met a girl who used to go to Huntington my freshmen year. I really didn't remember her, but we both at least had remembered hearing the other person's name before. Well, she really wanted to meet my baby girls. She had told me that she was a big fan of animals but I had no idea that it was this extensive. One thing that has been plaguing my chick box is that fact that my chickens are so skittish all the time. I feel like they are a little afraid of me, and everyone for that matter. It wasn't like that so much when I first got them, but it's like that now though.

Anyways, she came onto the porch and picked up The Colonel no problem and held him close to her face and started talking to her. She kept on saying things like, "You are a truly beautiful chicken on the outside...and inside." She held them all with such a gentle touch and they didn't squirm. They calmly sat in her hands and didn't poop either. She was holding Boo and looked her in the eyes and said, "Boo while you're little you're very cute, but..." and I looked over at this time..."when you're older you'll be beautiful". Then Boo closed her eyes and kinda fell asleep.

I told this girl that she was kind of like a Chicken Whisperer because she was able to hold the chicks and they were calm about it. She laughed and said she has the same way with Alpacas.

May God bless my Chicken Whisperer.

Daddy and Janet

This is Janet and her daddy. Since we are in Indiana I think it might be appropriate to ask Janet, "Hoosier daddy?" and she will hopefully respond with, "Cheep, cheep, Alex, cheep, cheep!"

Janet got her name from Chunk, one of the guys living with me this summer. Chunk is a rather random guy so Lord knows he was going to suggest a random name. Some have suggested that it is too close to the name "Janna" (my girlfriend) but I think that if I were to call the baby chick I can annunciate "Janet" and I were to call my girlfriend I could just yell "hey Chick". Hahaha. Anyways..... Janet and her sisters keep on growing and eating and pooping. It must be a fun little life for them.

The first 24 hours...

So, my name is Alex. I grew up in Lansing, IL just outside of Chicago. I moved to Dyer, IN about 4 years ago, but that too is near Chicago. So, I haven't been around farms or livestock very often. My first real farm experience was in the fall of 2008. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. That trip inspired me to raise baby chicks. The farmer offered to sell me some chicks for $.50 each. So there we go....I am a farmer now, raising chicks, from Chicago(land area). Farmer from the City.

So, I went to the baby chick store yesterday (well, they sell more than chicks, but that's the main point of this story). I spent a long time talking with the "chicks" in the store to see how I could best raise my chicks. hahaha. I picked out my babies by seeing which ones looked the most spunky and playful. That might have been a bad idea, but we'll get there later. I got one Americana, which lays blue and green eggs, and I got two red something or others.... they will lay brown eggs. The Americana is a little bit older and therefore bigger than the other gals so we named her "The Colonel". The more yellow chick is named "Boo" as in, "she my Boo". The more red colored chick is named "Janet". Their spunkyness has only been a problem because they are impossible to hold. That's why I wanted babies!!! So I could hold them and pet them and nestle them against my bosom. So, maybe that idea just went out the window..... But other than that they sure seem to eat and poop a lot. A lot, a lot.

I am excited to watch them grow and get older. I hope that you all will join me as I blog about my great big summertime adventure!