Running around like a chicken....

We have been busy, busy bees since my last posting. Gardening has given way to a new obsession...Chicken Fever!

We started a little over a week ago with 25 day old (well actually 2 days old--they had an extra day in the mail--bless their hearts) chicks. They are black Austrolorp pullets, which is a fancy word for hens. I think after they lay their first eggs we can actually call them hens. They will grow up to be a shiny, greenish-black with red combs. We believe they are all pullets as none of them had white spots on the backs of their heads. Only time will tell... Their names are Button, Rosie and "all the other peep-peeps" because they are so darn hard to tell the difference between.

Here is a picture of their first day home.

Unfortunately, we had to deal with the loss of little "Pasty butt" the very next morning. Apparently, chicks can have problems with poo sticking in their tail feathers, tail fuzz at 2 days old, and they're essentially stopped up from the outside in. This was the case with P.B. I was afraid the kids would be really upset, but Wyatt's reaction was, "Oh well, we still have 24!" (I was secretly proud that he was using his math skills correctly.) He and Wesley gave it a proper burial in the bare spot where we've pulled up some old fig bushes.

One week later, we started to get the feeling that there may not be enough variety in the barnyard, you know having only 24 of the same breed. So we made a trip to the feed store and picked up four more Americaunas. These are sometimes called 'Easter egg' chickens because they lay blue, green and pinkish eggs. We were amazed at the size difference between these day old chicks and the now week old Austrolorps. They quickly became the new favorites, mainly because being different colors, they were easier to name. Sunny, Brownie, Gracie and Matilda. Here they are.

As if 28 chicks were not enough, Friday we decided we needed eight more. So we made a special trip to Prattville and picked up four Silver Wyandottes, two buff Orphingtons and two golden Sex link. (I don't have an pictures of those yet).

It has turned into more fun than we had planned, because we learned that the more we handle them the tamer they'll grow up to be. The kids love their hands-on chick time and so far, so good. No dropped or crushed birds. They like to eat out of our hands and scratch around in the shaving like "big girls". One flew up and roosted on an upper deck in the brooder last night and we were all so proud.

All that's left to do now is: remodel a shed into a chicken coop, build a chicken run and get ready for eggs this fall. This will be Wyatt and Wesley's first money-making enterprise or so we hope! They've already starting promising free eggs to friends. I think their strategy is to get everyone hooked before they start charging!

Oh well. That's just a little of what we've been up to and what all I could share with you about the wide, wide world of chickens. Email me if you want to know more :)