Toddler and Chicken Mom?

So another thing new with us recently is what I call our Amato family farm. For Christmas we received three very sweet 3 day old chicks that our family fell in love with instantly. I honestly don't know who was more excited about this gift the kids or me but judging the pic from below it might be safe to say it was me. haha So now we have added to our family a Cuckoo Maran (black chick) which my daughter princess M called dibs on immediately and named Tinker bell. A Leghorn (white) my oldest Mr B favored and named flashlight (the name honestly still cracks me up). Last but least our Buckeye (brown) which for our youngest Little Bear I named Minnie cause she's the smallest chick in the group. They have been growing very quickly and I've made sure to hold each of them for at least 20 minutes a day so they are comfortable being held by the kids later on. The Leghorn was very stand offish at first but after about a week of me smothering her with love she began to get so comfortable with me that I would notice her fall asleep in my arms.

The biggest fan of our chickens is probably our one year old Little Bear. Every morning she wakes up and runs to their "incubation coop" it's basically a glorified container with a heat lamp to keep them safe and cozy till they grow into hens. Anyway she will stare at them for hours and for not being old enough to pick her favorite, Minnie and her are so close. It's like Minnie was destined to be hers or something. Our sweet Little Bear will hold her chick and pet her so gently that Minnie will fall asleep in her lap everyday. Its honestly the sweetest thing I've ever seen..

They are probably the most spoiled chickens in our state as we are constantly snuggling, talking, singing and petting them. I even found a sewing pattern to make "chicken diapers" so they can still come inside and visit when they are older..... I'm becoming a crazy chicken lady I know.. I have already had several friends point out that I must really be loosing it to let chickens in my house since I won't even let my kids have an inside dog. haha But all joking aside I've grown very attached to them much quicker than expected. The kids are now so great with the chicks that they take turns feeding and watering them everyday and they think its absolutely amazing. I keep telling my husband if they think this is exciting I can't wait till they find out the chickens lay eggs. All in all I think it will be great for my kids to help with the animals, learn more about them and see how awesome God created some animals to provide for us when we provide for them.

*Update* Our girls are officially feathered and ready to go out to their big girl coop outside. The kids are very upset to see them leave from their current spot in our dining room. But they are outgrowing their chick coop and old enough to "leave the nest" so to speak to go in the coop. The chickens are adjusting will but the kids not so much.... They want to sit outside and watch them all day... I had to actually move the coop closer to the window so they could watch them from inside while I finally got some housework done. This is a picture my daughter Princess M watching them during the afternoon. She would do this all day if I let her. Luckily our outside yellow lab has adjusted very well to them also. We spent a long time warming her up to them and the coop ever since they arrived so she was really comfortable with them by the time they moved outside. I think that was a good choice on our part so it was an easier adjustment for her and she knew what to expect. She is very calm with them just watches and listens closely but never jumps at them ( thank goodness) just barking every now and then if they get really loud. haha I'll update again if anything changes, happens or if we get eggs but I've heard that it will probably still be a few months for that.