This time of year , my husband , Jae , and I clean and prep the pens in our pole barn with clean litter , clean thewaterers and feeder , verify the heating units are functioning , and ensure that the barn survived the winter without bill of exchange . No , it ’s not biddy - think up time . It ’s Easter fourth dimension .
You see , the holiday is penny-pinching and , without fail , every year we stop up with as many as a dozen chicks dumped on our doorstep during the workweek after Easter Sunday . No note , sometimes not even a loge . Just chicks , peeping unhappily by our threshold .
The first year this happened , we were quite surprised . Jae figured that perhaps someone nearby incubate too many baby and see that we raise domestic fowl . He was partially correct . After two more years of these spring surprises , we cipher out that these chicks were n’t overhatches . They were undesirable Easter gifts , and our roadside farm sign was an open invitation for people to discard their undesirable infant birds once the vacation was over . Ana Hotaling
Do n’t get me untimely . Giving a small fry a few chicks ( or ducklings or a child bunny ) for Easter is a serious-minded , wonderful giving , but only if :
Most breeder I know — and even some farm memory — reject to betray chicks during the weeks leading up to and following Easter to foreclose the babies from becoming presents . Still , the problem persists , and it ’s understandable . They ’re midget . They ’re fluffy . They ’re adorable . What child would n’t want a delicious doll or two?Ana Hotaling
I unfortunately understand this firsthand . As a young tiddler , I go first with my grandparent , and then with an aunt and uncle , on family farms where chickens ( and Bos taurus and other animals ) were part of my everyday life . Back home in suburban New Jersey , seeing a robin was pretty much the extent of the local creature life . Perhaps that ’s why my mother did it : to help me remember my years as a farm girl . Perhaps she simply think it was an appropriate present tense . I ’ll never cognize her motivation . I do live that one Easter , we drove out to the countryside and , at a farm , I was allowed to select a 12 babe wench as my holiday talent .
Ana Hotaling
Of course , I had to share the wealth with my neighborhood buddies , and soon almost every home on Varnum Lane had a chick or two , thanks to my Easter generosity . I ’m certain my friends ’ parent were thrilled with me and even more thrilled with my female parent . I ended up keeping one chick , whom I named Groucho . To this daytime I have absolutely no idea what happened to Groucho or to any of the other bird . One day , they were just gone . I ’m unforced to bet they got dumped on the doorstep of the nearest poultry farm .
As Easter approaches , you might be seek the thoroughgoing endowment for the youngster in your life . If you recover yourself leaning towardbaby chicks , lean off — fill your baskets with doll made of marshmallow , burnt umber or some other sweet instead . In the meantime , Jae and I will heed carefully for the audio of sad peeping outside our front doorway .
Ana Hotaling
