let's talk about chicks, man
I just finished an enlightening book on living with chickens. For some reason I'm really jonesing to get more animals around here. It must be my, er, nesting urge. You know, diverted into something other than preparing a new baby. Because, amazingly, we have a baby coming in like three-and-a-half months and we have nothing we need to do. When the time comes closer we'll just take a ziplock bag out of the attic and dump its contents into one of my dresser drawers. I guess that's the benefit of having babies close together - everything is pretty much still on the floor of your living room. I have a meagre ikea shopping list hanging on the fridge, containing a second changing table for our bedroom in case of nighttime emergencies and then a lot of stuff for Harvey Mr. Center of the Universe. He needs more step stools and an easel and maybe some extra cups. The baby needs, er, one pack of disposable diapers for the first week. And a swift phone call to some friends holding onto hand-me-downs in case it's a girl.
Anyway, so chickens. Dan and I have floated the idea around for a while but he maintains we're not ready. After reading this very frank account of what it would take to keep several birds alive for a few years, I have to agree. As much as I'd love feeding and watering them and even mucking out the coop from time to time, I'm not ready to open up a gaping black in my bank account for the start-up costs of coop and fencing and feed, not to mention a heat lamp, water dishes, and more fencing and chicks when the first round gets eaten by some animal that found a hole in our first round defences.
I mean, we do have farm-fresh eggs right down the street.
Still, I'm holding onto the idea for a later day, when Harvey is a bit older and more inclined to help out with animal husbandry. I would so love a little flock of birdies playing outside in the lawn, but at the moment I'm not quite ready to sacrifice some said lawn to dust-bin for dirt and droppings just yet. Hopefully a new human baby will occupy my coddling urge for a while.