Spring is finally here.....

<













Nothing like new baby chicks to symbolize spring, right? Our new batch arrived this morning, all soft, warm and peeping like crazy. I didn't have to do much, the girls have seen it done enough they know exactly what to do and like doing it. They jumped right in and started dipping the beaks in the water and counting how many we had.















Keeping the theme of 'doing less' this year, we cut our usual chick numbers in half and are only doing 50 this spring with the possibility of doing 50 more in the fall. I can't believe how easy 50 seems!















The girls are hanging out in the chicken coop all day loving on the babies. In a few days, they will just be stinky chickens and not as much fun to play with. All, literally, ALL they do is poop, so it doesn't take long to get stinky.

We have a pond behind our house and every year at least one pair of Canadian Geese make a nest and end up with a few babies. It never fails that some critter gets a few of their eggs, but they usually manage to fight off the animals enough to get at least 2 babies. This process starts early in the spring and usually involves some serious territory disputes. One couple will take control of the pond, make their nest and be paddling around happy and lo and behold, here comes another pair in for a landing. They saw this great pond from the sky and thought, "hey, there we go!" Only when they land, they are immediately attacked by the pair that is already established.















You can see the 'already established' couple standing their ground against the female of the other couple......and there is the male of the invading couple just paddling around, making a lot of noise, but not really helping out much....just leaving his mate to do the dirty work!















Every once in awhile he would give a supporting 'honk' in his mate's direction. As John and I watched, he looked at me and said, "He's a lover, not a fighter, just like me."