UPDATE: The winner is…Joy Boutwell!
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It’s finally Spring here in Central Arkansas. And with Spring, we have new animals here on “the farm.” With the egg prices soaring, we decided to take the plunge. Keep in mind, we already have quite a menagerie of animals: 9 dogs, 4 cats, 1 betta fish (my Loki!), 3 goats, and 1 35-year-old horse. *Eeks. I forgot about our rabbit, Oreo!* Now, we have a ton of chickens.
Our first batch of 14 chickens are teenagers now. This week, we got 7 new baby chicks, and my dd had some fun with photos. They represent a bunch of different breeds because we love the variety of colored eggs they’ll produce. These eggs aren’t real, of course.
They are adorable, right? But my dd and SIL had to do quite a bit of work to get chicken house ready for them. We had an old unused tin shed they cleaned out and built a box for the babies with a light above it to keep them at the proper temperature until they grow their feathers. We have nesting boxes ready. In the meantime, my dd, the 14-year-old, and the 9-year-old are the “bird masters,” and they constantly clean up after them and check them several times a day—and play with them. (Here are Jesus & Alana! Jesus is my granddaughter’s boyfriend’s name.)
They assure me they have distinct personalities. And they have names. (I don’t know all the names.) Below is one of the teenagers from the first batch. This one’s named Barbara.
And another. They’re not pretty at this age, but they will be!
In a week or so, they’ll be adding guinea hens–not for eggs, but because they’re great “guard dogs”—they SCREAM when they’re upset, so hopefully, they’ll alert us if critters get into the pen.
I have one more picture to share—the cutest she took—but you have to solve the puzzle to see it!
So, solve the puzzle and tell me whether you’ve ever raised chickens or any other kind of farm animal. And let me know what you think of her photos for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
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I, myself, have never raised chickens. But my oldest daughter has been doing it for about 3 years now. She also like to have different kinds & right now I’ve got a few dozen eggs from her that have blue & green ones included. She mostly wanted them for the egg production but one of her hens found a cozy spot & laid her eggs & sat in them so she did get a few babies to add to her coop. They were the cutest things & they’re really like pets to her. They follow her everywhere. Growing up I had rabbits as pets. But it’s been only cats & dogs that I’ve ever raised. I’ve tried talking her into getting one of those little fainting goats but she says no. There are cows in the field right next to her so she figured that’s enough. These pictures are so cute.
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I’ve never raised chickens myself (had a dog) but when we moved from “the city to the country” when I was six our new neighbors had chickens, steer (hereford and black angus), giant brown pigs and hunting dogs (beagles and german shorthaired pointers). The next occupants had sheep and a pair of pink pigs (Elizabeth and Richard).
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*Eeks. I forgot about our rabbit, Oreo!*
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The closest I probably had to farm animals may have been a colored chick 65 years ago. You know, the ones they sold at Easter in the 5 and dime stores. Unfortunately, it probably died within a few days. I live on the main drag in a small town. The road is 3 interstate highways in one. My backyard is so small I can’t even consider growing a zucchini plant! However the further up out of town you go, the residents there (the ones with BIG yards) have petitioned the city and they were rezoned to allow a certain number of chickens.
I love the blue ‘chick mobile’!
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Love the puzzle picture! Cute. I am from farm families and aunts and uncles had Horses, cows, sheep, goats, geese, chickens, dogs, and cats. Even minks and chinchillas at one time. Picture I wish I had was my uncle walking from the barn to the feed barn and the line of animals as named above following him. They were in order of height as well so went from 6’ my uncle to 6” cats, even the chickens were taller than the cats and not afraid of them.
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Too cute! Those are wonderful pics! I have had many pets over the years… a bunny, guinea pigs, rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, parrots, parakeets, dogs, cats, lizards, fish, hermit crabs, salamander… might have forgotten something.
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Love all the pics! We do t have chickens, but my brother in law is getting some when he gets a house.
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Nope. Other than dogs, never raised any animals…kids excluded! Cute pic!
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No. Cute pics
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I’ve never raised chicks but the pictures are pretty cute.
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The closest I’ve come to holding chicks is the petting zoo of the Coney Island Animal Farm. Our church youth group did raise change for chicks donated then to the Heifer Project so families can have chickens.
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3:45
The photos are so adorable, Delilah! I’ve never raised chickens, but we’ve helped feed/water ones that belong to friends when they’ve been unable to. They’re a lot of fun!
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3:53 I liked the photos a lot. I have raised chicken but not for long.
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The photos are very adorable and remind me of the ones I used to have. I raised a rooster and a chickens, other than that I haven’t raised any other farm animals. Though I do remember how the rooster would wait at the end of our drive way for our school bus and would start crowing as soon as he noticed it coming down the street. He would run to me and my siblings and then proceed to walk us to the bus doors every morning. And if the bus driver skipped our stop he would run after it, very angry and start crowing until he couldn’t see it anymore. He was a very loved pet we had.
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Cute photos. I liked the puzzle. I never raised any animals other than a dog. The closest I have ever come to birds is a pigeon coop by my grandmother’s house
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Those chicks are adorable! I have 19 eggs in the incubator right now, due to hatch in a few days. When I moved to northern Maine, I adopted a dog and started raising chickens, both brand-new experiences. I know your family will love the hens. They have personality and can be trained, to jump on command, and even run an obstacle course!
Best of luck with your new flock. May the predators pass you by.
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We had chickens, cows, rabbits, horses, goats, raccoons, a cedar waxwing, guinea Pigs, dogs and a cat while growing up.
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I have raised chickens, pigs, cows, goats, raccoons, opossums, Iguanas, dogs, cats, ducks, geese, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, etc. My grandfather was a rancher, my great grandfather was a farmer and had animals and other family members had farms. When I bought my first house I only had a few animals, when I bought my second I only had dogs and rabbits, but when I bought my third home I had everything. Any wildlife I find if it isn’t against the law to keep I raise it, but if it is I call FWC or if I’m allowed to transport them I take them to a shelter. I love animals and the pictures were awesome.
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We raised chickens at work with the children. Great pictures.
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I loved reading through your responses! And yes, our animals are more pets than “farm animals.” Just ask our 35-year-old horse. She has the best life for as long as she lives.
The winner of the GC is…Joy Boutwell!