For the Love of Chickens

Ah, Valentine's Day. The day where you get candy, flowers, and cards. Right?

Wrong. 

Not in this house anyway. 

This year for Valentine's day I got a very nice pair of amethyst earrings…
and a rifle scope.

Yep, you read that correctly. And I couldn't be more excited about it!

My darling fiancé received truck parts.
An EGR delete kit sounds like a lot, but it's really just a fancy term for an over priced metal pipe.

But would you look at his face? 

Pure elation I'd say, and definitely worth the spike in my credit card bill. 

My parents went a completely different route for Valentine's though and bought each other live animals. 

Yep. Chickens to be exact. 

Introducing Captain and his girls, Wendy and Thumbelina. 

We drove two hours out of our way on Sunday to get these babies, and while we saw some beautiful countryside on the trip, two hours is a long time for some chickens. Captain and his girls are Dominickers, or Dominiques, as they are more properly called. Dominickers are considered a heritage breed of chicken and have become quite difficult to find. My father had Dominickers growing up and has wanted some of his own ever since, so when I found these beauties on Craigslist I couldn't say no. They're already pulling their own weight too!

Ta-da! Our very first egg! 

When we left Beulah, Alabama with the chickens on Sunday afternoon the breeder told us they wouldn't start laying again for a few weeks due to the cold snap. But when dad went out to the coup yesterday he found an egg, and a pretty one at that! 

Did I mention that we also got some babies? 

Seven to be exact, four Dominickers and three Golden Pheonix. 

The Golden Pheonix is an exotic breed, and while the babies have a while to grow, they should look something like this: 

Would you look at that tail?! Simply beautiful. 

I am excited for what this new farming chapter holds for our family. 

Cam said at the end of the day Sunday, "Ahna Becca, I'm starting to feel like a farmer." And since he's spent the entire evening looking at cattle trailers, I believe he truly is.