We finally did it. We got our flock.
My husband and I have been contemplating raising chickens since we moved out of STL nearly 7 years ago. We moved into an unincorporated suburb knowing that without an HOA controlling our every move we were free to truly own our land and make it ours.
I’m an animal person. I was always adopting strays and meeting wildlife in the creeks when I was a kid. I worked as a bird specialist and veterinary assistant before becoming a writer.
Working with animals comes with serious responsibility. People used to dump animals on me all the time. This led me to have a veritable menagerie at one point. But having 5 kids and working multiple writing jobs led me to allow the herd to thin out to just a dog.
Of course my gardens have plenty of plant babies for me. I’ve tended a veggie garden and had some serious ups and downs, thanks to a couple of floods. My husband laughed at me for planting fruit trees during the pandemic. He joked that we’d be long gone by the time they fruit, but they are my babies and we’ve already had a couple of little harvests.
I love life and the joy that all forms of it brings.
My husband recognizes this. He’s been learning up on raising chickens and decided it was time after I goaded him for never getting me an animal. I was joking really, because animals are NOT toys, but they are a wonderful gift to share life with.
So we got everything prepared and brought home some baby chicks.
They’re growing so fast and each have their own personalities and I love them so much that I’m trying not to become a crazy chicken lady.
But honestly, my husband acts like a crazy chicken man now, worrying about them as if they’re our kids, so egg city here we come.
We’ve dealt with some pasty butt and cleaning talons. I learned how to clean a chicken’s ears and am ready to take on any issue they come up against.
There is something so wonderful about having your own little bit of earth to love and care for and share with a family of all sorts.
Jessica Marie Baumgartner 
How wonderful! Congrats on your new family