Desert Survivor, you seem to have forgotten that even the hardware stores in Indiana carry chicks. You used to be fascinated with them and wanted some for your very own.
Yeah, heck, I even remember that from my childhood and I have a horrible memory! The TrueValue on the north side of Rensselaer used to have them in a giant bucket. I always thought that kinda funny. And you could also buy them (or maybe they gave them away) at the annual FFA petting zoo at RCHS.
If you don't mind having male chicks you usually can pick those up for free at egg farms. They euthanize the male chicks since they obviously aren't of much use in the egg laying business.
Your parents told you many times that you could have a pet, but if you got a pet, one of the kids would have to go. Do not blame your parents for the choices you made. ;-)
Have that husband of yours build you a COOP and raise yourself some chicken dinner and omelets, silly girl! If I ever win the lottery I'm gonna buy my grandparents' old ranch and move to Snake Valley and show you how it's done, just like they did. Sans the violent Leghorn rooster, of course.....
March 2, 2011 at 7:33 PM
Anonymous said...
The real reason that you didn't buy chicks was because of the sign, "We're sorry, but this item is excluded from the BAG SALE."
Had chicks been a wee bit cheep-er than $2 each you might have had a few in your shopping cart. ;)
UP
March 3, 2011 at 4:29 AM
Anonymous said...
Those chicks are impossible to house train and then there is your Lab who might keep retrieving them. Pets have a habit of becoming work.
I've been tempted by chickens before and I wasn't even looking at chicks at the time. (You can live with cow manure but not a little chicken poo?) The thought of my own eggs, as well as giving my kids experience with where food comes from and real work was tempting. But my husband is a city boy and frowned upon it. Let me live vicariously! GO CHICKS!
March 3, 2011 at 1:54 PM
[Image]While I was in the hardware store this past weekend, I heard cheeping and turned around to find lots of little chicks eating happily.
Chicks?
In the hardware store?
This was something new for me. And I couldn't believe my gut reaction that I wanted to get a couple and take them home. They were only $2 each. They wouldn't cost that much. And they would be such a good learning tool for Desert Girl and Desert Boy. They both love animals. And did I mention how cute they were?
[Image]Plus they would help me recover from my appallingly petless childhood (unless you count the goldfish that survived two days--Mom and Dad, I'm still traumatized by that).
Before I reached in and grabbed a couple, I thought a little more.
Q: What would I feed them?
A: Um, grain? I think. Cracked corn? Where the heck do you get cracked corn? Would I have to go scavenge in the fields? Could they just eat the silage the ranch cows eat? Or maybe one of those big bags of chicken feed that they have conveniently nearby would suffice.
Q: Where would I put them?
A: In a box in the house so we could watch them grow and ooh and awe over how cute they are.
Q: But what about when they get bigger?
A: I guess we would need a fence or something. And a place for them to go inside so the big owls don't eat them. And we'd need straw. And then would they lay eggs? Eww, the thought of putting my hand under hens' butts to feel for eggs is kind of gross. And if I wanted eggs, how many chicks would I want? And if we didn't want eggs and instead slaughtered the chickens, who would pluck them? That sounds not very fun to me.
Q: But aren't they so absolutely cute and wouldn't the kids just adore them?
A: Yes!
[Image]I asked the clerk how chick sales were going, and he said really well. They had already sold out two of the five crates they had.
Who were all these people buying chicks?
He also said that it was amazing how fast they had grown in just the last week. Well, the whole time I watched them all they did was eat and cheep. All that eating had me a little nervous, as what goes in, must come out.
So my inner voice of reason discouraged me from buying any chicks this year.
But I've already talked to my husband about where we would have chickens if we decided we wanted them.
And other animals.
And he has a plan.
And it won't be long till the kids are in 4-H, and I don't want to the totally incompetent 4-H mom who knows nothing about raising poultry--or goats--or sheep--or pigs.
So maybe next year...
posted by Desert Survivor at 6:07 AM on Mar 2, 2011
9 Comments
Close this window Jump to comment formDesert Survivor, you seem to have forgotten that even the hardware stores in Indiana carry chicks. You used to be fascinated with them and wanted some for your very own.
March 2, 2011 at 6:41 AM
I don't remember that at all. And you should have let me have chicks back then, maybe I wouldn't want them so much now!
March 2, 2011 at 7:23 AM
Yeah, heck, I even remember that from my childhood and I have a horrible memory! The TrueValue on the north side of Rensselaer used to have them in a giant bucket. I always thought that kinda funny. And you could also buy them (or maybe they gave them away) at the annual FFA petting zoo at RCHS.
If you don't mind having male chicks you usually can pick those up for free at egg farms. They euthanize the male chicks since they obviously aren't of much use in the egg laying business.
March 2, 2011 at 8:28 AM
Your parents told you many times that you could have a pet, but if you got a pet, one of the kids would have to go. Do not blame your parents for the choices you made. ;-)
March 2, 2011 at 1:06 PM
Just remember that chick poo smells really, really BAD!! But fresh eggs would be a big bonus!!
March 2, 2011 at 4:24 PM
Have that husband of yours build you a COOP and raise yourself some chicken dinner and omelets, silly girl! If I ever win the lottery I'm gonna buy my grandparents' old ranch and move to Snake Valley and show you how it's done, just like they did. Sans the violent Leghorn rooster, of course.....
March 2, 2011 at 7:33 PM
The real reason that you didn't buy chicks was because of the sign, "We're sorry, but this item is excluded from the BAG SALE."
Had chicks been a wee bit cheep-er than $2 each you might have had a few in your shopping cart. ;)
UP
March 3, 2011 at 4:29 AM
Those chicks are impossible to house train and then there is your Lab who might keep retrieving them. Pets have a habit of becoming work.
March 3, 2011 at 5:26 AM
I've been tempted by chickens before and I wasn't even looking at chicks at the time. (You can live with cow manure but not a little chicken poo?) The thought of my own eggs, as well as giving my kids experience with where food comes from and real work was tempting. But my husband is a city boy and frowned upon it. Let me live vicariously! GO CHICKS!
March 3, 2011 at 1:54 PM