A Chicken Baby Story!

[I added pics to by Africa Boot Camp post below!]

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So I realize I am in Ghana and I'm about to write an entire post about chickens...something we have plenty of in Iowa.  But generally speaking, we don't get to be this up close and personal with Iowa chickens...and really...who doesn't love a good chicken story...ESPECIALLY a chicken baby story.  (I see a new TLC program in the future...)

And Grandma, this post is for you!  (My mom's kitchen is covered with chickens.  I'm not sure she is as into the "real thing" as she is into chickens as a decor topic.  Nevertheless, my kids have declared that Grandma will LOVE Ghana cause there's lots of chickens!)

So we're pretty sure this is Fred...  He sounds like Fred and quite frankly, I think he LOOKS like a Fred!  He roams just outside our gate (no, that is not our gate!) with his posse of girlfriends.  (apparently he's quite popular with the ladies...)

On a side note, every time we see a chicken cross the road (which is often!), it starts a long chain of "Chicken Jokes" from the kids.  My favorite-  

Kady: "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

Mom: "Hmmm...I don't know"

Kady: "To prove he wasn't chicken!"

Mom: "That's a good one Kady!"

Chloe:  "But Mommy, he WAS a chicken!"

(now repeat this over and over and over with multiple children joining in with jokes that make much less sense!)

Sorry!  I digressed...  

So apparently a little hen snuck into the yard (must have flown over the 7ft wall?) to lay her legs.  This week, her 9 little peeps hatched.  We woke up to lots of little cheeps added to Fred's crowing and the regular bleating of goats and exotic bird calls.  

The kids were much more thrilled with this discovery then Ernestina was.  (apparently they can make quite a mess)  So later, when Joe came to dig a large hole in the yard to bury our trash (the trash trucks decided to stop coming for a couple weeks...not sure why), she had him shoo the hen and chicks out of the yard.  This didn't seem to deter mother hen however, the next morning, her and her lil peeps were right back in the yard.  (still completely baffled how they got over the wall again)  

At this point, I seriously questioned the mother hen's logic in choosing THIS particular yard to hatch her brood, nevertheless, this time, the girls decided to capitalize on her poor decision.  So they talked Ernestina into corralling the little mother so they could get their hands on some peeps!  Ernestina graciously obliged...

...and plucked the flying wings off the hen while she was at it.  (we'll see if that keeps her out!)  

 (Ernestina is seriously AMAZING!  I'm fairly confident this little endeavor wouldn't have gone nearly so smoothly if I had been the one trying to catch the mother hen!  Yes...you may chuckle at the thought)

 Libby was really good with the chicks and could even catch them herself.  She helped her other sisters and brother have a chance holding them too.

So that's our Chicken Baby Story...they really are cute!  Stayed tuned next time...maybe we'll get a Goat Story!