Did anyone else not realize all the information that is out there regarding chickens? I was quickly sucked down the rabbit hole when I started researching what I needed to do to raise healthy and happy chicks. Yes, I am that person that will spend hours doing research. If I'm going to do something,  I want to do it right. I brought these sweet, fluffy babies home though and still felt completely unprepared. Flashback circa 2016 bringing that first baby girl home wondering how I was going to survive that first night without fully trained medical staff a quick button push away. You know what though? Just like I did with both of my darling daughters, we've survived the first weekend with our chicks. I am still terrified I am going to wake up and not have all 5 peepers ready to greet me, especially after researching and seeing all the different things that could go wrong. But I am learning to breathe a little easier each day. In this family of 4 with all of us having the same amount of time under our belts as chicken owners, I have been the one everyone comes to with questions. Do I know for sure that those loud cheeps when the lights go out are them just settling for the night and not distress calls? Heck no. I've only been a chicken mom for a grand total of 3 days at this point. Am I trusting the information provided by Google to reassure my sweet 9-year-old that they really are happy and not screeching for help? Of course, I am. We all have to start somewhere and learn from our mistakes. So I will continue to rely on the information I can find anywhere and everywhere to hopefully get that happy, healthy flock I'm striving towards. Today's highlight was taking them outside for the first time. I wasn't brave enough yet to let them explore outside of their brooder box that is their temporary home. But it's baby steps for all of us.