Here a chick, there a chick, everywhere a chick, chick...

The chicks are here! At 11PM last night I got a phone call from the post office hub that our mail comes from. They knew I was wanting to pick the chicks up as soon as they arrived so called me before I had a chance to call them. Molly and Evan and I piled into the van(we can do that since they are homeschooled and can sleep in you know). We arrived at the back door of the post office to be handed a box full of peeps. We opened them right there on the spot, recommended by the hatcheries in case of any DOA chicks. Everyone was healthy and well and the count was exactly 20 as we had ordered. There are 5 each of 4 different breeds. Here are pictures of what they should look like when they grow up.

This first picture is of a Silver Laced Wyandotte.

This is a Plymouth Barred Rock. This breed was the most popular and familiar barnyard chicken for several generations.

This is a Buff Orpington. These will be our biggest and fluffiest hens. They make great meat birds too.

The last 5 chicks are a cross between two types of chickens-the Rhode Island Red shown here and the Delaware below. We are anxious to see what they end up looking like.


And of course, not to be forgotten are the two we got from a friend last week. They are supposed to be Aracuanas but we are not yet sure if they will be hens or roosters. I think one may e either a rooster or a different breed due to its size and coloring. Time will tell.


All of our chickens except for the Araucuanas will lay brown eggs. The Araucuanas will lay either green or blue eggs. There is no nutritional difference between the different colored eggs.

All of the chicks are in a children's wading pool in our basement. There are pine shavings on the floor and a heat lamp hanging above for warmth. After several hours we decided we needed to separate the two larger ones from the little ones. They were picking a bit on the youngers. This is fairly common and by placing the two in a small wire cage set inside the pool they will still be able to get used to the new babies and should be able to be placed all together in about a week. The cages bars are actually set far enough apart that the babies can get in with the biggers but the biggers can't get out. This way the babies can leave if they need to. Everyone is eating and drinking nicely. We are very happy with our chicken family.