Last summer, I went on a huge road trip from my home in southern Spain, across the country of Spain, through France to England and then back through France to Germany before returning home. All with a 2-year-old to try to keep entertained!

This year, for many reasons, we decided to stay at home. Not least among these reasons are the little fluffy things in the photo.

I love keeping chickens because you get eggs, they can eat the food which you throw away, thus minimising waste, and you can use their manure to help your garden grow. But since one month ago, I have started really loving having chickens.

Four of my female chickens were sitting on eggs and then, all in the space of two weeks, the eggs hatched! Now we have 17 cute little baby birds running around the chicken house.

It is delightful, but as with any child, can sometimes be demanding. We realised we cannot let the chicks go outside because of the risk of foxes, so if they go out of the chicken house it is always on strictly supervised walks. And we do not want to go away even for one night, just in case something were to happen to them. After all, they are very, very small.

So my summer has been very much defined by these little critters. How about you? What experience with baby animals do you have?

If you would like to talk more about keeping chickens, or other land-related issues, please feel free to book a class with me.