I’ve got a second video of Idee’s chicks on YouTube now.  Obviously, they’re practically full grown now, but this one shows their first ventures beyond the fluffy underbelly of Mom.

We ended up with six little poof balls.  Two silver-laced Wyandottes, one Pumpkin Hulsey, one Rhode Island Red, one Lavender Orpington, and one Barnevelder.  Lovely.

What struck me most are the similarities between being a chicken mom and being a human mom.  Chicks (and grown chickens) peck at anything that looks like a bug, including specks, freckles, and as you will see in the vid, eyeballs.  Yes, the chicks peck at mama’s eyeballs, and, amazingly, she is very tolerant of it.  Plus, tugging on her wattle, her comb, etc.  If you’ve ever had kids, you know you go through this.  Eye-poking, fingers up nostrils, hair pulling.  Like pro wrestling, but with diapers.

I’ll have pictures of the chicks now (they are practically grown) very soon, but for now here are the chicks back when.  Prepare to wince at the eye-pecking.

And, oh, . . . Ashley decided to kick Lance AND Brandon to the curb, moved to Wyoming and became a sheep rancher.  She spends most of her time tending the lambs, spinning wool, and knitting her handspun.  There is a lot of steaming hot chamomile tea involved.