Chickens

Spring Chicks

Every year, we usually add a few hens to our laying flock, just to keep productive young hens coming up as older hens slow down their laying. This winter, we lost about 6 hens and one much-loved rooster to a combination of severe winter weather and particularly desperate predators, so we decided to add a few more than normal.

Baby chicks in the brooder

Myles surprised me this year when he insisted on settling the chicks in the brooder himself. He’s helped me with chicks the past couple years, but I didn’t anticipate how much he would remember, or how confident he would be lifting them out of the box, dipping their beaks in the water, and setting them gently into the brooder.

Myles moving chicks to the brooder

The concept that my almost-5-year-old can handle day old baby chicks like it’s the most normal task in the world pretty much floored me. It also made me very proud.

Myles moving chicks to the brooder

Amanda lives with her family on a little red farmstead in northwestern Pennsylvania. By day she's a web developer specializing in WordPress and in her off time she enjoys working with goats and other livestock on the farm, canning, knitting, and crocheting.