A deal is a deal....

Brian is a hands off Dad. He has yet to change their pen since the day the arrived. Every night I go and get new bedding, water, and feed. Tonight I just couldn't do it. I have been working a bagillion hours this week and was just exhausted. So I made a deal if Brian changed their box tonight he could buy a new model fire truck. To Brian model fire trucks are the VERY best things in life. It is all he ever wants for Christmas and his birthday. He usually goes to Code 3 Collectibles everyday and checks out their newest trucks. They average $90 so they are a big purchase in this house. 

So a deal is a deal and Brian was set to change their box. I thought I would take a picture to commemorate Brian's active father role. 

 Little did I know.... he is actually terrified of touching the chickens. 

So I got it all on tape:

At one point he actually had to stop and wipe the sweat away from his face. He was seriously that freaked out. But he prevailed and at the end of the chicken changing he held Betty for a picture :)

After he put her down he said he was ready to go sky diving because if he could get over holding a scary chicken.... he could do anything. 

That is what we are all about in the Walsh-Bird household. We are all about overcoming obstacles and becoming a better farmer each day ;-)

Flew the Coop!!

Every night I have to change the chickens cage. It used to be VERY simple and I would place them next to the brooder and they wouldn't go further than the light could shine. They stayed perfectly still until I was done and then I placed them gently back in their cage.

... but then they got BIG! Now they run and fly and poop everywhere if you let them out!

So for the past week I would keep them in their cage while I quickly took the bedding out and changed their food and water. I just worked around them and it was going well. Until tonight I walked away to rinse out their water dish and returned to see Betty.... flying the coop!

Betty is always our adventurer

So it seemed my girls had grown too big and too smart for the "quick change." I looked around until I found the next best "holding pen" 

The trash basket worked perfect!

I was worried they wouldn't fit, but I then remembered factory farming. I thought they would be more thankful for their  plush lifestyle after the basket experiment.

My babies are getting SO big! Sometimes I get sad realizing we will most likely have moved before they ever lay their first egg. But I know they will be in good hands at the farm market. 

The Three Girls

I also found a few pictures from a couple weeks ago. They are MUCH bigger now but the pictures turned out so cute.  A look back.....

A chicken model in the making

Poor Bernie. She is just a wallflower

Enjoy.

What I have learned....

Since moving to the city and joining this whole "local food movement" and starting to see both the city, granola crunching side, all while having my family's background and talking to my brother everyday and hearing his struggles. All I can say is Dwight said it best.

"Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field." ~ Dwight D Eisenhower


I pray I never ever forget that in all my work and throughout my career. 

Time and Chickens FLY!

So sorry I have lapsed in my chicken updates. Life has been hectic since Brian learned of his discharge! Last week Brian went to DC and Annapolis for job fairs. He is taking his time in the decision and we are really thinking about where to move! Life was much easier when the Navy said where to go.
I was offered a job in DC working with minority farmers. When I called to turn them down because of timing issues they offered it to me long distance until we figure out if/when we are moving! If we don't move to DC I can turn it down with no hard feelings but for now they need help on a certain project. Awesome!

But enough about us, you really just care about those chickens.

Bernadette, Martha, and Betty are getting TOO big! We are both very ready to have them out of the apartment and at the market. Brian is now frantically working to get a coop built within the next two weeks and get them out. They start to smell a little by the end of the day, so we are changing their cage twice a day and they are SUPER dusty and our house has a blanket of chicken food dust everywhere.
Next time we get chickens they will live in a mudroom or a garage for sure!! This one time experiment is enough. I remember growing up and always having abandoned lambs in our kitchen during the winter lambing season. I always was so embarrassed at our level of redneck and now I am an adult redneck in the city. But they are still very quiet and cute to watch.

We got a video of them attempting to fly. They get better everyday. They HATE the laser pointer Moe plays with and so inhumanely we scared them with it so they would fly on video.

Bernie is still the very best at it. She is still super scared of her own shadow and when you change their box she just about has a heart attack each time. Betty and Martha walk right up and let you pet them and they will follow you around.

Hopefully we will get lots more pictures up this week of us building a chicken coop!!

Happy Three Weeks!!

Another week and our girls are GROWING fast! 

I haven't blogged as much after the SURPRISE news Brian will be leaving the Navy this summer! While not totally expected it was Brian's final choice to leave and we are VERY excited as to where life is taking us and never worrying about deployments again. Brian's baby chicks would be SO sad to see him go!! Needless to say this week has been a little hectic as we try to get ready for our next chapter. 

Betty, Martha, and Bernadette had a big week too. All three have figured out they have wings and spend a lot of their time "flying" or scaring each other as they spread their wings flap and then fall over. We have had "free range" nights in the apartment where we let them out and watch them "fly" across the living room! It is pretty hysterical and they seem to take turns and watch each other go. Bernie is definitely the best and she just flaps her wings all the time. However, it is becoming more and more apparent she is going to be SO much smaller than the other two. They keep growing and she keeps getting puffier.  Our goal this week is to get video of them flying. 

The girls have also had a lot of visitors. I invited a few Mom's over with their kids yesterday. Little 22 month old Hazel kept laughing and laughing as they flew. She spent a long time "talking" to them and having her Mom pet them as she was a little unsure about doing it herself. The Euans children came in a pack of 3 and I think our 3 little hens weren't sure what to do!!! It was their first visit from a boy and they are a little more loud and excited than girls. They really flapped their wings and ran around crazy. They kept pooping and the kids would let me know each and every time screaming "ewwwwww!!!" However, the eldest Euans child explained to me how the chicks would grow to be hens and lay brown eggs! I was pretty impressed when I know grown adults who don't even know that much!!

Brian's job this weekend is to really get cracking on the coop. He has the next 12 days off and needs to really start working hard or they will not have a home soon! We are thinking of using an old dog house and converting it to a chicken coop. 

Hope you all have a great week and are still thinking about getting yourself some chicks. :)

Happy TWO weeks chicks!

Who knew in just two short weeks these little guys would cause such a stir!

Bernadette on the left, and Betty on the right

I can't believe how big they are!!!

Well poor Bernie (the little Easter Egger is going to be MUCH smaller than her fellow sisters! They Rhode Island Reds are like 1/3 bigger. The picture doesn't show just how big a difference there is.

At this age they are just starting to act like big chicks and that means pecking order. Poor Bernie seems like she isn't going to be on the top of the totem pole. Poor Brian about had a heart attack the first time they pecked each other. He ran over and said, "I'll peck you and show you who is boss" and I had to explain it is just how they are. We will put another little roosting spot up high so Bernie can escape if she needs to!! I think Brian relates most with Bernie, as he too was the runt of his family :)

I'm sitting here watching them try their hardest to fly. It is hilarious, they scare the heck out of each other!!

Well off to garden! I spent the morning cleaning up the area their coop will eventually be in and now that our frost free date has passed I am going to plant some tomatoes!

WOW! We ARE famous!!

So yesterday the little article ran in the paper and today... there were three more!!

People are pretty pumped my last name is Bird and I am for chickens.
Thank goodness I didn't take my married name. See there really was a good reason I stayed Bird!

You can see the funny follow-up articles:

Where they say I am a "all around good person"

Super cute article about a guy's love for chicks.

And finally... the REAL stamp of approval
Kerry Dougherty is one of the main columnist here in the Hampton Roads region. She doesn't like many people and calls city council out ALL the time. She is pretty influential and today she gave me her stamp of approval. HUGE! I have been getting texts over her article all day.

It is kind of crazy all of this happened over the last two days. I finally made a big old splash here in the Norfolk and all of a sudden a lot of people know who I am. I am a little activist and I am excited to bring about change, however, yesterday we found out we will be moving by July 31st. Though we knew it change was coming I hate to see an actual date attached to it.

Don't worry my chicks have a good future home and will be cared for by Amelia Baker of Green Alternatives but what will happen to the bee ban and chicken ban? I hate that finally when it all starts to get noticed I will have to leave.

But isn't that life and especially that of a Navy wife.