Spring announces birth, renewal, and fresh beginnings, and around our homestead, there is lots of life going on around our place. It’s been thirteen years since this city girl met country living, and yet I still get glimpses of my life here as the star of “Green Acres.”
Every year we add a few new baby chicks to our hen house, especially since we are down quite a few chickens due to some adverse effects of country living…i.e. a naughty wild animal. These little peeps are always so precious, but they grow up very quickly, and then the reality of work sets in for our kids, and they wonder why we don’t just buy eggs from the store. (Our raising baby chicks is a story in and of itself that I don’t think I have ever shared.)
Besides the new chicks, our HUGE, exciting arrivals graced our home just last evening. Yes, these cute pictures were taken just hours ago. Our sweet yellow lab had precious pups – seven of them to be exact – and I think my daughter has found a new home. She wants to sleep in the whelping box at night, but I have assured her that Lola needs her beauty sleep.
As you can see, my day to day has been just a tad busy this week, but what a wonderful celebration of life.
(And yes, I had to slip in a mini “birds and bees” talk with our seven year old. When you witness any life being born, let alone the birthing process seven times, there are bound to be a few questions. I count that as biology class for at least one month. ;))
So have any of you had the fun of puppies before? They sure are precious!
So sweet! I want to hear the chicken stories though. Very curious about raising laying hens.
can i ask what you will be doing with the 7 puppies?
We will be selling them in around two months when they are weaned.
Congrats on all of your new arrivals! We had puppies a few years ago. Loved them! But the real work starts when they break out of their baby pen area’s!
I had fun when letting Momma out for the first potty break in the morning and 4 puppies charged outside with her… I chasing them through the dewy wet grass before they reached the woods! Soggy wet puppies panting away! So much fun…!!! Loved it and miss them. Oh ours were/are Siberian Husky’s.
How fun! We had a litter of puppies a few years ago and my kids loved it! I did too, even though they get really messy after a few weeks when the mom stops “cleaning up” after them. Plus it’s hard to say goodbye when the girls’ each had their favorite puppy picked out. But all in all, would do it again! ENJOY!
I agree. She’s had another litter and right now they are a piece of cake. I am NOT looking forward to a month from now when every morning I will come down to surprises smooshed all in their pen. 🙂
I have five 5wk old rottie puppies right now. This is our first litter and it sure has been a learning experience. I am dreading when they leave because everyone is sooo attached to them! My hubby will be the worst!
What a beautiful post. The chicks, the puppies – such blessed reminders of God’s love! Thank you for sharing.
The Unplugged Mom
http://www.unplugyourfamily.ca
Aww the puppies are so cute! I would be tempted to snuggle up with them too.
Oh, I want to hear about the chickens! We are working on that just this week.
I will have to do a “remembering back” post on our chickens. We’ve had them now for ten years, and if I had only thought to do a “Chicken Farming for Dummies” book, I’d be rich by now. We have some funny stories from this city girl when I just started out. 🙂
Ya, I have very little clue how to do this. I’m wondering how it’s going to go!=)
Thank You! Thank You! for posting those pictures! I was feeling so sorry for myself deeply immersed in work when I took a break to read your email. They made me smile and made my day! So beautiful. Your sharing meant so much to me just when I needed it!
how precious! I remember going to pick up chicks with my dad for our hen house. I was MUCH younger, and I remember that they made a lot of noise in the car on the ride home! 🙂
I’ve had more experience with kittens than puppies, but both are equally adorable. Enjoy!
Awww they are adorable! We have a litter of english shepherd puppies that are 2 weeks old today. Its amazing how fast they grow!
Look at those sweet little puppies!! I’d love to know how you broach that subject with your seven year old. My oldest is five, but pays attention to everything and always asks tons of questions about anything she can think of. I don’t particularly want to spill all the beans any time soon, but it would be nice to know what’s appropriate for younger kids…. :s
How precious! My mother took in a stray dog one year right around Thanksgiving. My stepsister and I kept trying to tell my mother that the dog was pregnant, but my mom denied it. That is, until 6am on New Year’s Eve when 4 puppies were born! Sadly the mother dog, who we named Tinkerbell, was hit by a car just 4 weeks after her pups were born, so my mother and stepfather and my siblings worked to keep the puppies healthy and alive. That, and our Shepard/Lab stepped in and took over the role as mother, even though they weren’t her puppies. They are now 5 years old, and of course after having cared for them so much my stepfather could not let them go. Thankfully they are small dogs, because their house is not that big!
Congrats on all of the new arrivals!!!! We just got rid of our chickens, the price of feed here is so high it is cheaper to buy the eggs. The puppies are adorable!!! I have chocolate labs, who are very fertile, the first litter she had fifteen and the second litter she had eleven. Lots of work but such a joy!!! I will be thinking of you in about four weeks, good luck!!!
We are hatching chicks as I type. We are planning on building a coop & trying to keep them as pets/egg layers. I would love to hear any advice from someone who’s been there, done that. We do live in the city though, so it’ll be somewhat different…urban farmers or smtg like that! 😉
awww, cutest puppies ever!
These photos carried me away from my humdrum murky mood after this long week to a dreamworld. Thanks ! We had puppies few years ago, it is a blessing. Enjoy it .
I would love to read about your Chicken Farming for Dummies. I go back in forth on moving to a neighborhood we love with lots of friends or moving to a place that would allow me to have chickens in the back yard.