Well, looks like I got busy (or forgetful) last year and forgot to post pictures of the chicks.
Proud "Poppa" bringing them home from the Post Office and in their new home on the porch. The black ones are the Barred Rocks that I ordered and the yellow ones are Rhode Island Reds that they added in, as there has to be enough chicks in the box to retain enough heat to get them through the overnight shipment.
We had to say "goodbye" to one of our kids this summer - Lacy is a bob-tailed Munchkin. When she was 9 months old, she developed rectal prolapse but due to diligent care, she pulled through and lived to be over 10 years old. This is my favorite picture of her - she just woke up from a nap and was still so relaxed her tongue was sticking out - silly girl!! She has a twin sister, Macy but she is not a very social cat and prefers to live in the cattery rather than the house.
The chicks are all grown up now. Two of the Barred Rocks turned out to be roosters and all of the Rhode Island Reds were roosters, so they have been turned out to keep down the "bug" population. They have become huge pets and the tallest stands above my knee! As soon as they hear my voice, they all come running - hoping it is feeding time. Several of them follow me around the yard as I work, especially when I'm pulling weeds, looking for bugs to eat. When it is feeding time, they follow me into the feed shed and I just can't get them to understand that I can't get to the feed if they are standing on top of the lid!! The smaller roosters are Bantys and I have 2 Guineas - who are supposed to be very "protective" but just make a lot of noise!
Fred and Wilma were wandering up and down the road this summer and worried that they would get eaten by the coyotes (as happened to the rest of the chickens a neighbor just turned loose to fend for themselves ) I finally managed to get them caught up. I'm not sure what breed they are but am thinking "Red Stars" a hybrid. The barred Rocks lay nice large brown eggs (left) and Wilma's are usually a bit larger and speckled - weighing about 2 oz. each (right) but she laid two this summer that made me say "OUCH!" when I saw them!! They both weighed 3.5 oz (center). That is a quarter in the picture for comparison.
We also had a visitor this year. "Boxer" (an Eastern Box Turtle) wandered into Jake's pen this summer and just made himself right at home! I fixed him up a little pool that he could climb in and out of, fed him worms and bugs that I would find and he stayed for several weeks even though he was free to leave at any time. I'm pretty sure it was a male, as they are "triggered" to mate when it rains and he disappeared when we got the rains from Hurricane Harvey.