I've wanted chickens since I was a kid. When I was in sixth grade, my mom brought home some fertilized chicken eggs to hatch and I diligently kept them turned and warm. I counted down the days until they would hatch and I was so excited! Sadly, the hatching day came and went and the chicks never hatched. Now that I know more about hatching chickens, I'd say there wasn't enough humidity. It was pretty disappointing and I never stopped wanting chickens of my own. When our family moved from California to Springfield, Virginia in 2015 I had hoped we could get some but our area required a special permit that would cost $400 a year. The wait continued. As we prepared for our next move to Chesapeake, Virginia that took place this past January, I was sure to check the local ordinances and laws about backyard chickens and was overjoyed to find that six hens were allowed without having to pay any crazy fees or jumping through a bunch of hoops. It was something to look forward to for the kids (and me!) as we prepared to leave our neighbors, friends, and church that we loved so much. I had researched and read about chicken keeping and different breeds of chickens for the past year (thank goodness for Pinterest when you're stuck in a rocking chair nursing a newborn baby several times a day!) and we chose our six chicks based on friendliness, egg laying capability, cold-hardiness, and egg color. I ordered our chicks about a month in advance from mypetchicken.com. I was nervous about having live chicks shipped in the mail but they arrived to our post office the day after they hatched, alive and well! They were all energetic and completely adorable! The day I ordered our chicks, I also started planning photoshoots and ordering outfits for my kiddos so that I could photograph them all together. Chickens grow crazy fast and I wanted to be sure to capture those adorable little fluff balls! They are currently six weeks old and are finally fully feathered so we were able to transfer them from their inside brooder to their outdoor coop last week. They love foraging outside and we all love sitting outside in the gorgeous spring weather and playing with them and snuggling them when they allow it. We look forward to our first eggs this fall but in the meantime we are loving watching all of their crazy antics. I'm also loving photographing them with my own babies!
Opening our special package from the post office...we were quite relieved to see our new babies all healthy and alive after their journey!
Our chicks at 1 day old, 1 week old (top right and bottom left), and 6 weeks old
Chloe's sunset chick photoshoot with Honey, Cheeks, and Cauliflower at four days old
Little day old "Cheeks"...I mean, seriously, it doesn't get any cuter than that!
Bella's chick photoshoot with Piper, Blackberry, and Red at 1 1/2 weeks old
Our chicken coop! This was a prefabricated coop that we painted and put together. I created the little sign and added a wreath and it's just so stinking cute! These pre-made coops have a reputation for being flimsy and not lasting long but this one is supposed to have 200% thicker wood and be more durable. It's gone through some very strong winds and tornado warnings recently without even shaking a little. So far, so good!
Harrison with Red and Honey at 6 weeks old
I ordered William an outfit over two months ago and it never arrived...I'm currently on the hunt for a new one so I can do a shoot with him and his chickies too. I'll update with his pictures when I find one...I may even completely go nuts and try for all four kids and some chickens together! Anyone know where I can order some dusty blue knitted overalls in size 3T? 😜