A whole lotta cheeping going on

Angie Gabriel bonds with her Red Star chick.

 The waiting is finally over.

My new chicks came into my life last Wednesday with a phone call from the U.S. Postal Service. When I get chicks, I always have the same mixed feelings of anxiousness and excitement. I'm anxious to get them home as soon as possible and I'm excited, because well, their lives are just beginning. And, to tell you honestly, I can't think of a better place than Klucker Farms for their journey to begin.

When I welcomed my first chicks six years ago, I didn't know what to expect. Like any new mother, I was so afraid of doing something wrong or, more importantly, I didn't want to hurt them. Chicks are a bit intimidating. They fit in the palm of your hand and are extremely fragile. If you drop one or accidentally hold it wrong, you could kill it or injure a wing. So, needless to say, when I have children visit Klucker Farms, I am always holding the chick.

These little girls received the celebrity treatment. In response to the blog I wrote a few weeks ago about a chick registry, my cousin, Cheri, made sure these little gals started off on the right foot. She sent the girls a hanging feeder, gallon waterer, a stylish pink feed scoop, chick starter/grower, scratch grains, Happy Hen treats and an egg basket. Cheri has chickens too, which makes our cousin bond that more special. And, I also look forward to our chicken chats on Facebook.

My mom rode along with me to pick up my chicks last Wednesday afternoon. It's always nice to have someone along who can hold the box. The little chicks move around quite a bit and it's nice, I think, for someone to hold it and keep the box as still as possible. The last thing I want to do is slam on the brakes and have 58 chicks flying through the air.

Picking up my chicks always puts a smile on my face. Nothing can top the love I feel for them at that moment. I feel like the Grinch when his heart grew bigger and bigger with love for the people in Whoville.

So, after the post master handed my cheeping chicks over to me, I carefully placed the box on my mother's lap. Since chicks have to stay nice and warm, we turned off the air conditioning. I try to go above and beyond for my girls. My needs and wants come second. They are only babies; their lives are in my hands.

Since we turned off the air conditioning, I made an executive decision to take a little different route home. I am a sucker for ice cream – especially Whitey's ice cream, which is based out of the Quad-Cities. I also wanted to see what kind of a reaction I would get from the employees there.

When I pulled up to the drive-up window, the young boy looked a bit startled when he heard loud cheeps coming from the box on my mother's lap. To assure him that I wasn't smuggling something illegal or had exotic chicks from outer space stuffed in there I said, “I just picked up my baby chicks.” However, he still looked at me like I had just come from the funny farm.

The ice cream helped cool me off on the way home, but I could have used some later after placing them under the heat lamp. When we finally arrived at Klucker Farms, I had to take each chick out individually and dip their beaks in the water and feed. Since their mother wasn't there to show them what to do, it was my job to step in and show them the way. I think I sweated off 10 pounds under those heat lamps, but it was worth it.

My girls are a week old now and flourishing. They are running around, perching on top of their cardboard brooder and exploring their new surroundings. I love to pick them up and talk to them. I tell them what good girls they are and how much I love them.

My chickens have become such a big part of my life. I waited my whole life to raise them. I wanted to be a farmer as a young girl and it took me 33 years to get to this point. There isn't a day that goes by that I take them for granted or the valuable lessons they have taught me in return. No matter where I go or what I do, I will always be the chicken lady.