I am taking you back to the late 1950’s when I was a child growing up in Florida. My dad took me to our local feed store to buy a Easter chick..
Oh no, not just any Easter chick.
I chose a pretty pale pink chick!
Keep in mind this was the late 1950’s. Florida even allowed the sale of baby gators back then. That’s a story for another time. Back to the chicks…Most states have banned the injecting dye into the eggs just before Easter so that the chicks were born rather colorful. In my research it appears that a few states and still allow this practice and it appears to be common in other countries. The dye is non-toxic and the color disappears within a couple of weeks. As an adult I am not advocating dying chicken …but as a child it was fascinating.
I so loved that little chick and carried it everywhere with me in a cardboard box. If you have ever raised chickens you know they do not stay small chicks for very long! I agreed to take little chick to live on my grandparents farm since she was getting so big.
Several days before our trip to the farm mom and I went shopping. I left little chick in her box and sat it on the bathroom floor. When we returned from shopping I ran into the house to retrieve chick and to my dismay…..she was floating in the toilet. I was one devastated five year old!
Years later I married a man that owned a chicken farm. Yes, 40,000 little chicks were delivered to the farm every few months. That marriage didn’t work out, maybe because subconsciously it wasn’t the man I wanted but my little lost chick.
I HAD A PINK CHICK TOO! im a 1970s (and philadelphia) girl but i remember having pink (my brothers got yellow-boring!)and green! wtfreak were people thinking!
we lived in the city and my backyeard was the size of my boys bathroom and they were running all over the place! then when they started to grow, my grandfather took them to 'new jersey'. i wish i would have asked if he just left them on the side of the road.
anyways-im glad im not the only one whohad colored chicks!
Wow, I'd never heard of chic dying before! That's so sad that you found it in the toilet:(
Very cute story, thanks for sharing!
That is sad and funny at the same time! Have a Happy Easter.
Sherry,
Amazing that we survived that era, isn't it? No seat belts, no helmets, I had a little turtle that they've now banned because of samonella. Definetly a different world!
I'm glad that I still live in a town small enough to have an EASTER PARADE….not a "Spring Parade." I'm waiting for someone to tell us we're no longer "PC."
Have a great Easter!
Hugs,
Shell
Oh your story broke my heart…I love chicks so much too. A lot of people dye their chicks with easter dye and blow them dry after. I have never tried. The dye disappear when their feather come in. They look funny for 3 weeks.
Thank you for following my blog, i am following you too now. 🙂
Gros bisous
Frenchy
Oh I am so sorry about your poor drowned pink chick! 🙁
It does seem silly to dye them when they are such a beautiful color to begin with!
OH No!! That poor chicky!
I can't believe someone would have thought to inject dye into an egg… Maybe I'm just naive…
Hope you and yours have a Happy Easter!
Hi Sherry!!!
welcome to my blog!!!
If you noticed I bought 3 baby chicks for my granddaughter and the neighbor kids to enjoy, normally(2nd year to do this) they are gone in a few days, however this year a relative wants them so I still have them!!! Yes, they are getting so big!!! I have to keep a lid on their box or they fly out!!!!I would LOve all those colors!!!! I will not be dying mine though!!!haha
So happy you stopped in to say hi!!!!
I will come back to poke around later, I had a …..hmmmmm a procedure and I am days behind on catching up on blogs!!!!!haha
Happy Easter
hugs,
jamie
My sisters and I had ducks. The tragedy in that was we had to take them to a farm when they got bigger. We intended to go visit but never made the trip. I see you live in Virginia. It's my home state. Miss those mountains and valleys here on the plaines of the midwest but love Chicago!
Best,
Bonnie
Awww Sherry, that's one of those bittersweet type stories. Cute and yes, tragic for a 5 year old. ;-(
I got a baby duck one year. His name was Albert, after my favorite cartoon, Fat Albert (Hey, hey, hey!). Oh, how I loved Albert. A dog got Albert. I was devastated.
wow, i've never seen a colored chick, let alone a herd of multi-colored ones 🙂
this reminds me of grade school, when our class had a chick and we got to take turns bringing it home and caring for it over an evening.
hope you have a happy easter!
I just have to say I LOVE your blog name. I was just telling my husband of a new gal who commented and he asked why I didn't name MY blog that! HAHA! I love we both can understand each other…meaning he's out of that equation! Baby Chicks…Pink eek! Say no more! Nice to "meet" you and follow each other in our "minimalist" world in which we dwell dwell!
A great story! Add me to the list of pink chick chicks. My father sold them at his dimestore (50s). When the chicks grew, they went to my grandmama's farm in Mississippi.
Happy Easter!
XX00