The Pierogie Peepers vol 1.

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Almost 2 months ago, my husband and I moved our family about an hour north to beautiful Skagit County (Washington) where we get to live in the home of our dreams. It was the house we had prayed for and now we get to realize our dream!

As many of you know, I am also a chicken mama and have had a small flock of backyard hens for almost 3 years. Once we moved to our new house and were no longer constrained by city regulations, I went a little chicken crazy. Just a little. We went from 7 hens to double that in a very short amount of time. That term is called "chicken math."

Say hello to the 11 + 3 Pierogie Peepers! We call them 11 + 3 because I've got 11 chicks and 3 turkey poults (the word for baby turkeys).

These guys are quickly growing and the super cute chick phase was short lived. But I had some fun while they were cute and fuzzy!

Big Sister Babcia, my 2 week old white crested Polish says "I'm too big for this baby stuff, mom." #pierogiepeepers #polishchicken #chicksinteacups #chickinateacup #chicksofig #chicksofinstagram

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on May 28, 2016 at 4:13pm PDT

May your Friday be fluffy. #pierogiepeepers #fluffybuttfriday #blackcoppermarans #backyardchickens

A photo posted by Bianca @ The Pierogie Mama (@thepierogiemama) on May 27, 2016 at 4:25pm PDT

But adolescence is rarely cute on any creature and that's kind of where we are at right now.  Almost immediately baby chicks start to lose their fuzzy baby down and grow in their feathers. We are in a middle stage where just a little bit of down remains.

Out of all of the Peepers, Babcia the Polish chicken is kind of my favorite. She's been the most fun to watch as she feathers out. Polish chickens are bred to have a huge 'fro, and are one of the most fabulous in the chicken world. You might wonder where this name came from. "Babcia" in Polish means "Grandmother," which is what my daughters call my mom. My mom, bless her heart, I love her so, but the 'fro on Polish chickens reminds me of my mom on a bad hair day.

Most of the time when you buy chicks from your local Co Op or farm store they come "sexed," meaning you have about a 90% chance of knowing that the chicks you've selected are girls. Some breeds (specialty, mostly) come "straight run," meaning they were not sexed and you have a 50/50 chance of pullet vs roo. Babcia came as a straight run and I go between wondering if she is a girl or a boy. I am really hoping she's a girl. I also got my four black copper marans from a friend who breeds them as straight run and so far I think I've found that two out of the four are roos. It's still too early to tell at 4 weeks, but there are sometimes indicators (comb size, usually) that may indicate boys. My guess is that #1 and #4 are boys.

And that's pretty much where we are at! To answer the elephant in the room - yes, the turkeys are for us to eat. My husband will be butchering them sometime between September and November, depending on their size. It's not an aspect that I look forward to with excitement, but having the personal satisfaction of growing our own meat, giving the turkey a good life and an honorable death will be a part of our life here on our new "farm."