Most often I hear answers like: Warmer weather, daffodils blooming, green buds on the trees, the red-breasted robin has returned, etc. Yes, those are all honorable mentions for signs of spring. But in our alternative lifestyle, nothing says spring like the disappearance of our youngest daughter on a school day.
What would make such an upstanding citizen leave her studies and just disappear? Why would her algebra be open on her desk, but her be nowhere to be found? Sure 83 acres of pure fun in the Ozarks is tempting, but that is tempting any day. This day (as on this relative day every spring) something more miraculous, spiritual and captivating happens. This is the day when the chicks start hatching!! The official onset of spring. Oddly enough, this day happened about 5 days too early this year.
It takes 21 days for chicks to incubate and hatch. We marked the calendar when our old barred rock hen started insisting the eggs under her were for her and her alone (brooding started). Well, that was exactly 17 days ago. The first chick started busting out yesterday.
So, now all things must come to a complete halt while we count and recount and investigate hourly or more. As of now, we have 7 chicks. At least 2 are black, one barred rock (black with the yellow dot), one brown, and one yellow. She was really hoping for a brown, as both her brown Sussex were hauled off by hawks. I saw the two black ones sitting in front of mom in the box. So, today is what we call, unschooling. It happens often around here, when her algebra is left behind for the things of real life learning.
More pictures of the babies.
No comments:
Post a Comment