Our experiment with socializing our chicks is going well. The chicks will jump in Maria’s hand and sit comfortably as she lifts them. They answer to her sing-song call of “KittyAnne.”

I have a different call, a kind of high-pitched clucking, and they come running over to me and pick the mealworms out of my palm. Sometimes they hop on for a ride up to the top of the box.

There is no fear of either of us, no backing away or hiding. As happens with animals and food, there is the beginning of trust and recognition. Every day they get bigger, more alert, and, I think, more interested in the world around them.

Tuesday, they go out of the barn, the weather is warming up, and we have a safe dog crate to put them. They’ll be under a heat lamp, safe from predators and the cold.

I believe we’ve both imprinted ourselves on the chicks as a food source. We’ll keep working on it.