Saturday, April 26, 2014

Guess What? Chicken Butt.


When I got laid off from my first advertising gig, I took a few months off before looking for another job and worked as a nanny for two-month old twins. Their awesome mommy ran a tight ship and we kept a feeding/diaper change journal, in which we wrote down every bottle, every pee, and every poop. I'm sure they'll love reading that when they're eighteen...

Never since then have I been so focused on someone else's bowel habits. Wait, scratch that...I guess I've spent months monitoring the litterbox comings and goings of my geriatric cat. But I had no idea that Mr. W and I would be on chicken butt watch every day this week. The things he neglects to tell me....

One of our new girls had what appeared to be "pasty butt" the day after we got her, so I Googled it and discovered that they can die if their little tooshie holes get plugged and they aren't able to poop.

And thus began a journey I never imagined Mr. W and I to be taking together...one of downy-feather butt cleaning with warm water and q-tips and many long moments of observation to make sure our girls are going as they should be.

If Mr. W had told me I might have to clean little butts, I'm not sure I would have agreed to adopt the chicks. But now that we're here, there's no going back... This may be our closest voyage into parenthood.

Much like with the babies I nannied for and my four nieces when they were infants, I'm totally captivated by the chicks. Everything they do is fascinating and adorable. Mr. W and I have been sitting side-by-side on the guest bed next to their pen watching them for hours since they arrived. They're growing up so fast, it almost makes me misty-eyed.

If you follow me on Facebook, you already know where we netted out with their names, but in case you were wondering, I rallied hard and had to resort to bribery (I can't tell you what...this is a family blog...) to get Mr. W to concede to the names I fell in love with. As far as I'm concerned, there's just nothing else that would have been appropriate to name them. Well, maybe Sandy, Rizzo, Frenchie, and Jan would have been okay, but now that I've met the girls, their coloring is just too perfectly aligned with their namesakes.

Here was my first bargaining chip:


And here are our lovely ladies:














You guys, I am IN LOVE.

 

12 comments:

  1. I am so jealous! How fun. I cannot wait to hear about all your chicken and farming adventures. I was even trying to think of a way to invite myself over for a night. Of course that would require living a few hours away not on the other side of the country.
    And it totally sounds the same as parenthood!

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    1. Suz you can come stay for a night any time! Surely there'll be a trip to LA at some point that would require a trip to Maris Ranch + some wine tasting. ;)

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  2. Why couldn't you have gotten the girls before my visit??? They are ADORABLE!!! Hopefully that tush duty will end soon. Just think: the next time I visit, you'll be making me omelettes from your own backyard! Congrats, Mamacita!!!!

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    1. I know - we would have had a lot of fun with these babies when you were here. They're awfully entertaining. And thankfully the butt-cleaning phase seems to have passed!

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  3. Replies
    1. Sadly, they're getting more and more awkward with each passing day. Their big girl feathers are coming in and they're like gawky teenagers now.

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  4. That sun! I think I've seen it before. But, man it's been a while. Thanks for sharing some pictures of it.

    Oh, and those chickies are awfully cute, too. =)

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    1. That's very sad you haven't seen the sun - clearly, you need to come visit. :)

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  5. "so I Googled it and discovered that they can die if their little tooshie holes get plugged and they aren't able to poop."

    Just so you don't have to Google it, that's pretty much true for all species. You're welcome.

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    1. I think most tooshie holes will unplug when enough pressure builds up, though. Let me Google that to make sure...

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  6. never once Did your Uncle Buddy tell me to wipe the backside of the chickens....we just feed and water 2 x daily...(they did have each other to do the cleaning I guess).

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    1. If they had Mommy chickens, they probably got groomed by them. And I definitely can't picture Uncle Bud cleaning a chicken butt with warm water and a q-tip...!

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Well, whatdya think?