We did stop by the famous Dragon Park on our way in (a mosaic dragon, constructed in the 70s, and a park I went to in my younger years).
Otto and Grandma had a big talk as soon as we arrived.
Otto is holding one of the chicks here, I think it's a Sussex. I'll have to get my dad to confirm all the varieties. These chicks are only a couple of weeks old, so they are still really downy.

Max absolutely loves to hold these, and he smiles so big when he's got on in his hands. He loves that he can feel their hearts beating. This chick seems to be his favorite, and he called it Junior.
Otto with the chick he named Fluffy.
Feeding time.
There are all sorts of other living creatures to find and hold. On the way down the driveway, we caught more than 10 small frogs. We put five of them into a critter carrier, but they didn't survive. I think it was too hot, and we didn't have the right food for them.

Here we visited the larger hens down by the chicken coop and vegetable garden. My dad lets them out in the evenings for a couple of hours, and it's to watch them all as they peck about (and eat lots of weeds). These roosters are too aggressive, so they have to stay in their house, but he built them a longish run, so they have some space to run around.
There are also giant piles of gravel to climb.
Max discovered this snake, which was at least a quarter's width in diameter, maybe even more. It was fully extended when we first saw it, and it was at least three feet long. Max was so excited and wanted to pick it up, but since we had no idea what he was, we didn't let him. The snake was very near the baby chicks' cages, and since my dad has never seen such a snake in all the years we have lived out here, we wondered if it was a chicken snake. We looked it up online, read that chicken snakes give viscous and painful bites to humans, we were sort of worried. But after looking at pictures, we are pretty sure it is a corn snake, which is apparently a docile snake, recommended as a great first pet. It seems that Max would be safe to hold it after all. But I'm not sure the baby chicks can feel so confident around it.

There's a big sand pit in the garden.
We found mushrooms.

Grandpa and the boys with one of the chicken tractors (the mobile chicken coop where they spend most of their days and roost at night). You can pick them up by the handles and move them around into other parts of the garden, so that the chickens are on new land every few weeks.

Here are the Golden Laced Wyandottes, one of my favorites.

These are the Rhode Island Reds and another ligher variety, which I can't remember the name of.

Some of Grandpa's birdhouses.

We found some bigger frogs by the pond.

Max tried to catch him (it is sitting on the rock here to the left). He jumped off the rock as soon as Max got on it.

Moths hanging onto the bottom of a lily.
Another visit with Junior.
Today it is rainy, and we might go to the museum. But on the other hand, Otto and Grandma are building Legos, and Max is ready to go visit the chicks, so we might be here for a while.
11 comments:
Looks remarkably like our visits to the grandparents, only chicer. ;) Bet it's fun!
Chicer or Chickier? :)
Chic-er. It doesn't make any sense, I know. I should have said "fancier" I guess. My family has always had grand ideas for ponds and nicer chicken coops, but neither the time (both have always worked full time - my mother as a CNM in a tremendously busy hospital practice) nor the funds to make it happen to quite the extent in their dreams.
Point is, your parents' place looks really nice.
Anna, I knew what you meant. I was trying to be funny, but I suppose it didn't quite translate. My parents just got into the chicken business, although it's not really a business, it's just for their own pleasure. But they've got about 40 chickens at this point, so soon they are going to have more eggs than they know what to do with. We were joking with them that they have finally found the perfect pets. My mom and dad have a ritual every evening at sunset where they let the chickens out to roam around for an hour or so while they sit on a bench in the garden and sip their evening drinks. I think it's a way for them to relax and connect and get "back to nature." I'm very envious and have definitely enjoyed this visit. Now we're really wondering if we could make a small coop work in our small yard...
I guess I missed that - it's not chickier than my parents' place at all! My folks have at least forty chickens right now, if not quite a bit more since my step-father got two rounds of chicks this spring for some reason.
They live on just under five acres. They also have five bee hives. Aleks has his own suit, but still doesn't fit into it. Maybe this year he'll get a chance to suit up.
That's a very sweet story of the two of them. My step-father's dream was to be like my father's father who raised chicken, drank beer, and ate hot peppers. Well, that's not all he did, but those are the three qualities he admired. It's since inspired lots of friends of ours as well. My sister's ex-boyfriend and his wife are currently battling their city to keep their chickens. All because of my grandfather...
It looks like such a nice setup your family has there. Sounds like they're fully enjoying retirement.
Wow, chickens AND bees...that sounds perfect. I hope Aleks does get a chance to wear his suit this year. It's nice to think of how much your grandfather has inspired all of your family. I love that they live on in us that way.
I would be remiss if I did not point out that my parents are not yet retired (my dad has his own architectural practice, which is pretty demanding, and my mom is a teacher). But my dad has always had a passion for the garden, and he's worked the last thirty years to make this property into the sort of place he envisioned: building stone walls from the stones he digs up around the property, planting trees and perennials and bulbs, making ponds. He works so hard on it, and it's really nice to see it coming together so well for them in recent years.
The chickens have inspired him to do even more than he had done before, and they are both clearly enjoying their life here, even if I think they are pretty exhausted. When they finally do retire, maybe they will finally have more time to rest. But I doubt it. There's always more to do.
I didn't realize your mom was a CNM. More and more pieces to the Anna puzzle, and each makes you even more fascinating! :)
Can you please get on that request I made last time you visited paradise - the one about me and adoption and all that. Get rid of the massive snakes first though.
Have a blast!
Ha ha! Yes, it is pretty blissful here. And apparently that snake is harmless, so no worries! My parents are also (in their copious spare time) trying to fix up another house on the property to be an art studio for my dad and a guest house for...us? You? My brother? The chicken keepers? It's not a straight up adoption, but if you want to care for those chickens for a week, they may take you up on it. :)
Oh, and Anna, I meant to ask, what do your parents do with all the eggs from those chickens? And do they eat the chickens too?
Well your father is very handy indeed. Must be the being an architect, I'm sure!
My mother caught Aleksander at her house where he was born (about five feet from where I currently sit).
They sell the eggs to co-workers, give them away to friends & family, and periodically when there's an overflow, they donate many dozen to the food bank. They do not eat the chickens generally as they're not fryers, but they have eaten them before. All they're good for is soup, really, but they make an excellent soup.
I'm so jealous! That looks amazing! Where do they live again? Maybe we'll move!
Alice
Alice, my parents are in Franklin, Tennessee, just south of Nashville. I've been thinking about you guys lots this week, since the boys are absolutely in love with chicken farming...and I know you've got the city chicken farmer thing going on...we might follow in your footsteps!
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