I should be super sad to write this, but I’m not. I’m smiling as I say “Farewell Miley & Hannah!”
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Back in May, we added two baby chicks to our household: Miley & Hannah. I’d been wanting chickens for a long time and had done lots of research before deciding to add new pets to our family.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
It was really cool to get the girls when they were only 2 days old and watch them grow into pullets with our kids.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Levi, Lucy, and Tillie got to experience something most suburban kids don’t get to see – watching farm animals be raised right in their own backyard.
After 5 months, Miley & Hannah had reached their adult size and were nicely settled into our backyard. Despite their awesomeness, Mykl and I made the decision to say farewell to the chickens.
When I say Mykl & I, I really mean me. Mykl never wanted chickens in the first place (though he was fine with us having them and even grew fond of them towards the end).
I wanted pets. I wanted to feel like the chickens were part of our family.
But I didn’t.
They were animals that hung out in our backyard that we cared for. They were sweet. They were funny. Both girls had their own personality. But I just couldn’t get past the animal stage to feel like they were pets I felt close to. The thing about being a chicken lady is that as much as you might think you want to be one, you can’t actually figure out if you like it until you experience keeping chickens for yourself.
Turns out I’m not a chicken lady after all.
As the weather started getting colder, Mykl and I talked about our options for keeping the chickens warm during the frigid MN winter. We could build a new coop for them, we could do some electrical work to wire their existing coop, or we could consider rehoming them.
I reached out to a couple chicken groups I was part of on Facebook. (Yes, I was part of chicken groups & forums. I wasn’t kidding when I said I did a bunch of research before bringing home baby chicks.) I asked for advice on the best way to rehome Miley & Hannah, because I didn’t want them to end up on someone’s dinner plate.
That’s how I got connected with an awesome woman who lives in Wisconsin. She’s been raising chickens for years with her kids and was happy to add Miley & Hannah to her flock.
This is their new home on a hobby farm with a huge 20′ coop and large chicken run.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
It was tough to explain the decision to the kids, but they understood that we just weren’t as well-equipped to care for Miley & Hannah through the winter as we first thought. It was definitely humbling as a parent to explain to them that I had made a mistake – that even though I researched and thought these were the right pets to add to our family, I was wrong.
Miley & Hannah’s new owner has sent us updates and pictures of them with their new chicken friends on the farm, which our whole family appreciated. We’ve also been invited out to visit them, and I think we’ll try to take the kids before the first snow.
Farewell Miley.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Farewell Hannah.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
You will be missed, but I’m glad you’ve moved on to such a great new home!
The post Farewell Miley and Hannah appeared first on Life With Levi.