I know that spring has arrived with I hear the chirp of a new chick. There is the wild fanfare of morning birds and the grass is greening up, buds popping on the trees.
But a wee chick is a great big exclamation mark on the arrival of spring.
I wonder what you see that means spring to you. Chicks? Daffs?
A Chick in theFarmyard
It was really too cold for this tiny chick to be hatched out – I went up into the top of the barn to find the nest and sure enough the others did not survive.
You know I am going to tell you when stuff like this happens right?
You and I – we take the good with the bad.
It is a farmyard thing.
The wild hens hatch the chicks up in the loft of the barn, and this nest was right next to the edge – I am fairly sure this little fella (and it is almost definitely a rooster as we seem to have a plethora of roosters) fell straight over the side and Mum dived after it. The rest of the chicks did not survive without their mother.
This is unusual actually. Usually the Mums jog back and forth until they get them all together. But she is a first time mother and also those were cold nights. And we do not know what happened that night, who else was lurking in the barn.
This is a strong chick though – already it has survived a few days in amongst all these roosters.
Cats Look On
Thankfully the mother hens protect the chicks from these mini lionesses too.
I know I have said it before but I will say it again. I will be very happy when there are no more cats on this property. They kill too many birds. And they are well fed too!
I will miss LuLu and Vandal as individuals but cats do not belong in my growing forest.
Weather
I was going through some old comments the other day and came across a person saying that she loved how I mentioned the weather. She found it interesting that comparing her weather to our weather was strangely grounding for her. She felt like she had company.
And it is true. You do have company here.
And we ALL have weather in common!
Do you see that? Three more days before we can begin dragging the pots out of the glass house. And begin hardening off the vegetables.
Today I am going to begin digging though.
Getting my Kitchens Garden begun.
This blog began as The Kitchens Garden and next it will be The Kitchens Garden with The Sustainable Home. (And yes you are all coming with me) But my first love will always be this little garden.
I will take some pictures of the Spring garden for you today!
Take Care. Talk soon.
See you in the Lounge of Comments. We can talk about your signs of spring (even though it is not spring for many of you – it is coming up Autumn!). Sorry!
Celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
37 responses to “Do You See What I see? The First Spring Chick!”
At last – colour is exploding all across The Farmy. Just that muted green so far. But even the willows are starting to pop their leaves. Lets hope this next lot of cold is the last and the blossom buds survive. I think they will. Now I am going to run out and water the glasshouse then pop back in to chat to you all before I start digging!
Congratulations on your baby chick! Although I’m not quite sure what the purpose of so many roosters can be. I received this today and thought there might be something you can use, if you aren’t already familiar with all of them: https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/earth-day-read-your-way-leaner-greener-lifestyle?utm_source=insider&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
I certainly do not want more roosters however there are two chickens I could not catch and I just know they are going to be hatching more out for me!! Thank you for the link. Am always interested in Leaner and Greener! Have a good one!
That little chick is tough if he fell from the top of the barn …though chicks are quite well cushioned.
They all begin their lives by falling off the ledge – there is just no way to stop that – those girls will go up high to sit on their eggs.
And the floor is all straw so the landing is indeed pretty cushy!
Oh my gosh ~ a baby chick!!! And next week it’s going to be really warm in the 80’s!! So the Farmy is gonna get real colorful and maybe more little chicks running around!!! It’s fun to see this cute little thing!!! Oh nature ~ how beautiful!!! Have really enjoyed the last couple of posts, blogs ~ whatever ~ just couldn’t tell you I enjoyed them!!! Have a good one Celi!!!
I am glad Carol! Thank you. I hope you are beginning to see tiny moments of smiles in your new reality. I think of you often! c
That’s a very special chick. Strong indeed. And as yellow as a daffodil. What color will he be one day? My sign of Spring is the blooming fruit trees…with their white and pink flowers even when it is still cold. And the curious restlessness that takes over my children (and myself). x
Oh – yes – that restlessness – I am feeling that RIGHT NOW!! Good call!
The first sign of Spring for me is my behavior starts to change. I start way early watching and waiting…Spring Fever hits and gets squashed because Colorado is seductive that way…I have a garden journal that reminds me that we still have heavy snow coming, hail and cold nights. Safe to plant date is Memorial weekend. Leaving perennials covered in their messy mulch is a good idea. The sun is wonderfully warm and so I keep peaking and waiting and planning and feeling the joy of Spring fever because it’s the best ☮️💜
That great feeling of joy and confidence when we see spring come! The warm, the scents and then BAM – snow again! I cannot help feeling hesitantly confident though – three more days I think!
The first signs of spring are wildflower ephemerals, trilliums, trout lilies, dutchman’s breeches, and others whose names I don’t know, popping up in the shady back. It’s an everyday trek out to count. Especially the trilliums, 24 today with more on the way!
Trillions of Trilliums! I bet you say that to yourself all the time! I have been out down the back too and my hands are too frozen cold to type!!
I think (although I dread saying this out loud) that we are finally done with snow yet it remains chilly. We are usually in the 60’s by day/ 45-55 range by night, all that accompanied by rain of course because we are WA state but things just won’t warm up here and the storms simply keep rolling in off the Pacific Ocean to head east. I am moving ahead with spring though and just continue to wear extra layers. Our first sign here is usually the crocus that pop up in yards and roadside patches. That happened weeks ago so I have to say temperatures be damned and simply get on with things like continuing to add organic matter to my little beds which will not be planted this year. I am determined to get something that resembles real soil in there rather than plain sad dirt. I have my own dust bowl just outside my front door.
That must be miserable not being able to plant – I have lived places like that and Like you I just can’t help myself. In one place I got a trailer load of horse manure and added lime. It takes a good year to break down but it created a wonderful raised bed.
I am consoling myself with some of the flowering plants in our community areas and beds that attract birds and wildlife throughout the year. I will persevere bit by bit… 🙂
We are going to be 77* this Sunday. We are warming up extremely fast. Sorta scary. (But welcome)
I think this might happen too! All our cool weather greens are going to bolt – straight out of the gate.
That is the worst part of the warming up. Losing the Spring greens
It’s lambs that alert me to spring’s arrival, and they’re bouncing all over the South Downs of Sussex right now. The little red fox was out roaming during the day yesterday – walking down the road as if it owned it.
Lambs!! AND a fox!! Theres a poem there!
The ducks have begun laying and one of them has been sitting her nest for over two weeks, so we should be seeing ducklings following their mama soon. That is always such fun! 🙂
Yes!! I wish our ducks had bred but like Tima – no such luck.
Cute, crazy chick! Shame it’s a rooster though! Spring for me is so predictable, daffs and little gambolling lambs. Weather in UK still rather grim, too much rain and not enough sun yet.
It may not be a rooster – I don’t know yet – I hope your weather warms up soon! When the UK is grim it really is grim!!
Cute cute cutest! Thanks for all the smiles your photos bring to us! Have a lovely day!
You are most welcome Kathe – thank you for being such a magic commenter. !!
Carpets of blue squill in lawns and the lacy pale green of tree buds and when the violets bloom there’s no doubt it’s spring.
Here in N. J. we look for robins.
That sounds delightful!! Violets! Yes! I love violets!
I look for Robins here in N.J.
Have they appeared yet? We have flocks of them here!