Kids and kids

We are enjoying a little hint of spring in the middle of a very rainy, muddy February!

I have been spending a little time reflecting lately.  I have decided that at 40 whatever years old, I might be close to being a grown up.  I’m not sure yet.  I’ll get back to you in another 10 years.

There is a clarity when learning to take care of animals that would have positively impacted my parenting had I known these things when I was “young and dumb”.  We do our best to be responsible animal owners.  We keep them clean, give them the shots they need to keep them healthy, but not so many that they don’t need.  We do our best to keep them safe from coyotes, while realizing that the coyotes are out there and like goat meat.  There are times, God love them, when they are pretty sure we hate them – like when we are on the third week of antibiotic to try and save a goat that has gotten a parasite.  But, we don’t hate them at all.  We love them.  Not love them, like they are going to sleep in our house, but we love them.  Funny how you can love something, do all that you can to keep it healthy and safe, and it can still think you hate it!  Hahahahaha.

If I had had some goats or chickens when I was growing up, I might have been prepared for the times when my kids actually were pretty sure I hated them while I was working my butt off to do what I could to keep them healthy and safe.  So, your welcome, kids being around kids might just teach them something about love that a suburban home wasn’t equipped to do.

There are a million other lessons that are magnified on a farm that somehow get lost in translation with suburban living.  This is just the one that came to mind today.

So, hopefully the grandkids will be learning this lesson when they help Jennifer and Jeremy  as they learn together how to work with chickens!

After Jennifer and Jeremy cut the center out of the lid, we cut wire mesh to fit

We secured it from underneath so the rough edges wouldn’t be exposed to the kids

Put the modified lid back on and get ready to add bedding, lights, feeders, and waterers.

The beginning of the chicken adventure!  Building a brooder.  We are new at this like everything else – We will see how it goes!  Jennifer and Jeremy are being brave new farmers!  Family farming is lots of work but lots of fun!