What you don't know is that Lars and I have been scheming for quite some time now about adding to our little family. I know what you're thinking, "Gosh, Kelly, you still struggle to get Soren to blow his nose and Tova's still nursing, how could you possibly have more time for an even bigger family?". We're doing it anyway!
Did I mention that there are two of them? Yes! Twins. It's so exciting.
Girls. Precious baby girls.
Did I mention we've already brought them home?
Did I mention their names are Mildred and Thelma? Thelma is named for Lars' late maternal grandma, a hearty Norwegian farm wife. We thought it was a good start for our little Thelma. Mildred was named by Petra, in keeping with our tradition of Petra naming our babies for us.
The girls are 2-weeks old now.
Did I mention that they're Buff Orpingtons?
Yep, chickens.
Petra, with Mildred, and Soren, holding Thelma.
Annike, making one of the babies walk the plank over her brooder.
They got their first outdoor experience in our vegetable patch this afternoon. They were squealing with delight. Almost right away, Thelma -- the bigger of the two, found a dried up worm. Thelma ran to one of the Brussel sprout plants to have some alone time with her wormy, but Mildred was right on her tail.
Mildred wasn't the only family member right on Thelma's tail. Maggie is quite excited about our two new punks. She's very excited thinking about them becoming fat and juicy spider and compost fed hens. She can't wait to have dinner with them.
In fact, Mildred and Maggie weren't alone in hot pursuit of Thelma's tail feathers. Before they had a chance to escape under the zucchini, Tova made a grab for Thelma's hiney. Tova's a quick little imp, but she let go as soon as we all started screaming at her.
Thelma thought the best of her new digs and opted for a quick escape. She's not so subtle about it. Plus, she can't fly. Plus, she would never leave Mildred.
Stay tuned . . .
7 comments:
FUN! And delicious fresh eggs, too!
But the girls can't make eggs on their own. Do any of your neighbors have roosters, or do you need to take them out of the city limits in order for them to spend some time in the company of a gentleman friend?
Sure they can make eggs on their own! They just can't turn them into little chicks on their own.
Sure they can make eggs on their own! They just can't be fertilized and turn into little chickies on their own.
(Psssst! Kelly! Didn't you say your brother was labeled "the smart one"? And he's from Janesville? I thought all Janesvillians had to know at least the rudiments of farm life!
And don't tell him I said this, ok?)
:-D
Ha! Buff Orpingtons! You couldn't make this stuff up...
Hm. Not only was I wrong about eggs, but it turns out that chickens can spontaneously change gender also, so the two "females" might be able to keep it going for awhile.
http://howtokeepchickens.blogspot.com/2009/07/hens-sex-change.html
For the record, sequential hermaphroditism is apparently rare in humans.
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