Albert's rehabilitation and my Chicken Padawan

Albert is almost ready to be let outside after his lengthy rehabilitation and leg fracture. Mind you his leg (as you can see from the photograph) remains a tad stiff and awkward and with farm traffic still high on the lane, I feel as though a couple more weeks indoors may be the order of the day. I know, I should bite the bullet and let the little chap take his chances with the neighbourhood cats , but after the suffering he has been through, It doesn't feel quite right .

This afternoon I was approached by a brother of an old friend, who has a son who wants to raise chickens. The little boy, who is around 10, wanted to look at an established flock, so I was happy to give him a guided tour alongside his parents.
The boy was delightful; polite, excited and eager to learn. He wandered around the enclosures picking out his favourite looking birds and asked loads of questions,finally I agreed with him that I will incubate enough eggs for him to hopefully have one buff, three hybrids (like Belle below) and two of the new grey bantams. I also offered to teach him the basics if he would like to come over for an afternoon. I gave him Pirrie to hold and it was nice to be able to go through wing clipping and vent checking with him!
As a little boy I was never encouraged to have and keep hobbies, my parents didn't possess the skills or knowledge to actively develop confidence in their children by celebrating individual passions. It made for a very shy and quiet childhood