Recap on November

Big Sighs. It's over. It's finally over. What a month! Everyone is fine now. Both human and chicken. Darby took about three weeks to recover from what ever it was she had. She laid two eggs this last week. She also is flying out of the condo to watch me on the computer. I guess I'll never know what was really wrong with her. Some people said that she was just broody and I didn't know how to tell if she was or wasn't. But Crystal did go broody about week two of Darby getting sick and I could totally tell the difference. Crystal won't leave the outside nesting box all day. She would just sit in there all puffed up and she felt very hot. When I'd pick her up to bring her inside for bedtime she'd very sweetly growl at me. Once she got out of my hands and run as fast as she could back to the nest box. Once inside for the night she'd act totally normal. I broke her from her broodiness by keeping her inside for a few days. She has not laid an egg for almost three weeks.
As for human we are all doing a bit better. My feet are starting to feel better now that I have better arch supports. Steve's feet are still killing him but he refuses to wear supports. Being heavy truly sucks. Megan got over the flu but is still wrestling with her anxiety stomach issues. Every night before bed she says she needs to throw up. Three out of five times she does. She doesn't know why and her doctor, dad and I are clueless too. She gets very upset with herself if she does throw up. She tries to relax doing yoga posses and visualization but sometimes it doesn't help. She goes in phases. Months of being fine then weeks anxiety. Emily is asserting her independence and getting into trouble. She is completely in love with books and loves going to the library. I'm blessed to have really smart children. It won't be long and I'll be having trouble helping them with homework. Ugh!
I can't believe I still haven't started work on the chicken's indoor nesting box. I'm so bad. And they really need it now because it's just too cold to go outside these days. But in my defence I am a busy mom. The pieces are finally cut and Steve will be bringing them home this weekend. I'd like to get it done by Christmas but a more practical goal would be the middle of January. It's going to be hard not to got dive right in to making it but I have a few other projects to finish first. A mom's work is never done. Sighs.

The road to recovery

Well it's been a long couple of days but Darby is on the road to recovery. Although she is not back to her normal wild child self. I wish if she could only tell me what she is feeling. I was not able to take her to her recheck appointment. I just didn't have the extra money. My PGE bill will not be getting paid this paycheck. I just hope it doesn't get shut off.

I have started to put her back outside with Crystal and Honey during the day. I can only hope it will pull her out of what I can only describe as chicken depression. Gosh! I hope Darby doesn't have the feathered version of Bipolar Disorder. The pain medicine seems to have helped get her through the worst of whatever she has. She has been off the medicine for a few days now.

She takes naps in the day which I don't remember her ever doing before. She doesn't fly out of the indoor condo anymore. I miss her company when I'm at the computer. She used to fly out of the condo and perch there to watch me type. She doesn't call out and "hen crow" when Crystal and Honey lay their eggs which she used to do so loudly I could hear her down the street. And she herself has not laid an egg in almost two weeks. But she is a fighter and seems like death is no longer knocking at her door. I guess only time will tell. I'll keep you all posted. Thanks for you support.

Oh No! Darby is Sick

Tuesday morning I watched my chickens in their indoor condo and I noticed that my Polish was hunched down in a corner. I just thought she waslaying an egg and I went about setting up their outdoor run. It ahd been raining for a few days and they have been inside since Thursday night.I put them all outside at 11 am. I checked on them at 12:30 and she was hunched down in the grass. I looked at 1 PM and she was in the sameplace. I went out at that time picked her up and brought her inside. I held her on my lap and she just settled right in and flew asleep.Normally she'd want to get down or struggle a bit but she did nothing.I put her on a blanket and covered her with a towel and she stayed likethat for 30 mins. She layed and egg in the morning, ate mealworms, oystershells and her crumbles. She did have a yellowishgreen and white watery poop.

By Thursday she wasn't getting any better. I couldn't take it anymore. I may not have money to pay the cable bill but I took her to the vet anyway. I brought her to the Medical Center for Birds in Oakley California. They say they treat chickens all the time and Darby was their third chicken of the day. A man even brought in a Hawk, an Owl and a Falcon and we got tosee them. I really liked their facility too. Everything for birds and no wet dog and pee smell as in other animal vets. Even a scale with a perch. Nice people too.

And three hundred dollars later she got X-rays, fluid, pain meds anda recheck visit next week for a reproductive track problem. Oh my god what have I done! Yes I love my chickens and I have always been more fawned of Darby but $300! And I don't have that kind of money rightnow. I did use the money I was saving for their diapers but that was only $50 of it. I am going to be putting my old jeep on Craig's list. I hope it sales fast. On the brighter side Darby seems to be feeling better with her fluids and pain meds. I got her home after an hour in traffic and she started eating a bit. She even was laying down and eating. I'm going to give her some food mixed with yogurt tonight after the kids go tobed.

She still looks a bit uncomfortable but she is eating and the vet said I needed to get her to eat in the next 24 hours or she may not make it. Dr. Olsen explained that she has some soft tissue abnormalities in her reproductive track that maybe the cause of her troubles. Darby's first two eggs were soft shelled eggs but I didn't remember to tell him that until after I saw the X-rays. If she gets better maybe she'll start laying gold eggs for me. LOL well it would help!

Happy Halloween!

I have found yet another cool point to having chickens in the house. With two small kids, a just as messy husband and four pumpkins to crave my kitchen floor looked like a pumpkin had been murdered. I looked at all the wet and sticky seeds and strings and thought sweeping this up is going to suck. Then "BING" and light went off in my head. Let out the chickens! I opened their condo door and they went crazy. I didn't even have to sweep until the next morning. I did have to pick up three piles of chicken doodles but that is easier then sweeping up pumpkin guts. They didn't eat the big seeds but they dried out over night and were easily swept up. I read somewhere that pumpkin seeds are a natural de-wormer for chickens. I also took some pumpkin guts, seeds and flesh and put it the fridge. I will be grinding it up and freeze it for the chickens as treats during the rainy winter days where they are stuck in the house for a few days. Maybe next year I'll dress as a farmer and go to my kid's school with a chicken on my shoulder. Now that would be a hoot.

New Pictures of Our Girls

HONEY

My beautiful big girl. Honey is a very brave girl. She'll be the first one to investigate something new. Honey is a smart girl and it shows by how she approaches every situation. She is also the only one that is trust worthy. She is the only one that I let walk by herself at night into the house. I still carry the other two girls. Honey's eggs are gorgeous brown ones. They are not quite as big as the large eggs you buy at the store. Honey is my lap chicken. She'll sit with me and watch TV at night after everybody has gone to bed. But I have to watch out sometimes because she has a bad habit of trying to peck at my eyes. What a naughty girl but I love my Honey girl.

CRYSTAL

It's official Crystal is a girl. She layed her first egg a few weeks ago. They are small little things with a light brown shell. I use one Crystal egg and one Darby egg to make a "large" egg. Crystal is true to the silkie nature. She is sweet, gentle, and oh so cute. She uses that cuteness to get what she wants too. Darby and Honey take really good care of Crystal. If there are treats to be had they always make room so she can get her share. The only treat that this does not apply is for mealworms. For those treats I put Crystal up on the top of the indoor condo and hand fed her the mealworms. Megan loves to hold Crystal and she calls her "My sweetie". Megan also loves that Crystal has bright blue "earrings".

DARBY

Being able to lay eggs has really changed this once skittish and scared little chicken. Now she enjoys a bit of cuddling and a good shoulder to sit on. I also trimmed away a few feathers around her eyes so she can see better now and I think that helped too. I have to keep Darby's nails trimed too or they look like the belong to a T-Rex. When she or the others lay an egg Darby will let the whole neighborhood know. Yet still both my neighbors say the don't hear her. Good for us I guess. Emily can't hold her like I was hoping she'd be able to do but Emily doesn't seem to mind. I love Darby's quirky attitude and even though she "belongs" to Emily, she is my buddy.

The Outside Chicken Run

Well here are the pictures of the outside run finally. I don't know what took me so long to get them out. Almost any parent can see what I reused from my kids. It's two of those plastic play yards. It's a little weak in the middle but I plan to put a bar in the center for more support. The pen is 12 ft. by 6ft. by 3ft. The top cover is Sun Shade fabric and it is rolled around a weighted PVC pipe at either end of the six foot sides. I am only using two pinch chips on either side of the twelve foot sides but I'm going to buy more. The Nesting House is an old cat playhouse I've held on to for 7 years. I always knew I'd find a use for it again. It's made out of the same plastic as those igloo dog houses and is big enough for all three chicken girls to cuddle up in if they wished. As I have said before I've had to find alternatives to shavings, hay, and straw due to allergies so as nesting material I use shredded coconut hull and it works great. I can't hang the food and water dispensers so I put them in the conners and tie them to the pen with rope. This makes it very hard for them to push them over. The little red bowl is their treat dish and the big blue tub is their dust bath. Because they are always on grass they don't get to dust bathe in a hole somewhere. Every two to three days I take everything out of the pen, collapse the pen itself and water the lawn really well. The next morning I set the whole thing back up again in a new spot. This way they always have fresh grass and I didn't have a big dead spot in my lawn. Plus if I see a spot in the lawn that need fertilizing that's where I set the run up. I think this is just another example that almost anyone can have chickens.

Our First Egg !!

I brought my girls inside last night at 7 pm. At 10 pm I started getting everyone ready for bed. I went to cover the girls' "condo" and there was an egg on the floor. Darby my polish was the one who layed it. She has been showing the "signs" of laying for about 4 days now. I was all happy then I looked at the egg better and saw it was just a yolk with a stiff membrane. Then I saw an opened white shell sitting in a pool of goo. I'm sure the chickens messed with the egg but this still looks weird. I'll be carefully looking for eggs now. I hope her next one is more normal. I'm glad I did not miss it. I was worried she'd lay after I went on my trip.

The Indoor Coop

Our luxury indoor chicken coop is finished. It was finished a while ago but with the computer crash I was not able to post pictures. At least it is done now, with a lot of help from my father and my neighbor with the sawing and building. Also from my husband who watched the kids for me.

It's a 4 by 2 1/2 foot pen with 8 inch sides and half inch galvanized mesh "cloth". I use Swheat Scoop cat litter for the floor and just scoop out the dried poop about once a week. I cover it at night with a sheet but I will soon get a nicer cover. I will also soon be getting and custom designing their nest boxes. I'm thinking of making a country cottage house with a white picket fence and green roof. Don't say it I know I'm going bonkers but hey this thing is in my kitchen and I want it to look nice. Enjoy the pictures.

Computer Crash

Ok I am so sorry for this long gap in posts but I lost my computer for four weeks due to spyware crap. A friend of ours saved it and all our info on it but it took a long time to fix because he lives 2 hours from us and gas is way to expensive to be driving that far just to fix a computer. So I had to wait until we planned a trip down there to do a few more chores.
Unfortunately I afraid that to long of a time gap has past to continue the week to week posting so I'm just going to post when I have news or cute bits. I will post the step by step pictures I have of the indoor coop condo and new pictures of the girls. Give me a few days to get all this up. Great to be back on the web and looking forward to the future.

Our Little New Comer

Well, I've done it to myself again. If there is an animal in need and I just can't say no. One of Megan's friends Mother's called me on Sunday in hopes I would know how and be able to take care of a little duckling. It was caught by accident by a fishermen. He looked all up and down the Slough looking for the Mama before he brought it back to the docks. I got to pick it up from school this morning. It is so cute. It's is about the size of a fluffy golf ball. I got out my old fish tank and but bedding in it. The water bowl has the marbles in it so the duckling will not it too wet. I can't feed it the chicken's food so I grounded up some salad greens and put it in a bowl and grounded cracked corn in another bowl. I also put some mealworm in there for it. I am hoping to find someone to take this little guy. I'm not ready to raise a duckling and three chickens. I'll let you know what's going on in a few days.

Week Seven

I just don't know were the time goes. The chicks are into their seventh week now. Honey and Darby look like small grown up chickens. Honey, as you can see in the pictures below, is starting to get the red in her face and comb. I'm going to miss the simple chick face. Darby's head feathers are awesome. I have to resist putting hot pink coloring in them. It would so go with her rebellious nature. I've nickname Crystal, Hummingbird. When she perches on my hand her little wings are going so fast that she reminds me of one.
OK I gave them a bowl with sand and sifted soil and sat there waiting to see what they would do. I had planed to video it to show. But it wasn't everything neat. In fact they did nothing with it. After a bit they did start to eat it and poop in it. So I'll try again another time. On Friday I'm going to take the chicks to Megan's class for show and tell. I'm sure I'll have a story to tell for next week.

Week Six

This week was an uneventful one. Three days this week were too windy to let them outside. I was afraid they and their pen would blow away. The wind blew the blow up pool across the yard and moved the outside chicken pen across the patio. I can't believe we went from 100 degree temps to 60 degree temps in a week. I think Mother Nature needs to recheck her palm pilot. LOL.

The Chickie girls are getting too big for the brooder. I really need to get started on the larger indoor coop or Condo is what I'm thinking of calling it. I am having to clean out the brooder more often now. I'm not sure if they are pooping more or just making bigger poops. I have now had to buy one large bag and one medium bag of Carefresh totaling about 30$. Once I get the Condo finished I think I may try using corn cob for the floor. It's about 20$ for a 25 pound bag. I'll have to see if I can clean out the poops easier with the cob. I'm thinking it may be more like a kitty litter box. Scoop the poop and leave the corn cob.
I'm hoping to give the girls their first dust bath next week. I'll get video of it. Also I'm going to try again on a mealworm colony. My first try failed. I want to have the mealworms because chickens love them, they are a hoot to watch the chickens eat them and I want to have healthy snacks for my girls. Have a good week.

School Chick Update

My daughter's kindergarten classes hatched these three chicks four weeks ago. Out of twenty eggs only three hatched. They are doing great. One of the teachers has been taking them home with her so they are going to be part of her flock. It's funny to look at them. One is big, one is medium, and the one that is missing an eye is small. They look happy and healthy and are not that afraid of people. Of course though they are living in a class room of kindergartners. I would have to guess this will be my last post about the school chicks since the school year is coming to an end. I wish them luck. Happy peeping!

Week Five "The week of heat!"

Hot, Hot, Hot! It's May for goodness sake! Monday I knew the heat wave was coming so I turned off the chick's heat lamp. The chicks spend the afternoons in the outside pen. I give them treats outside like apples cut in half, frozen blueberries and tomatoes cut in half. Thursday, Saturday and Sunday I had to go out of town. I opened every window and door I could without leaving my house vulnerable to bad people. I gave them watermelon and ice cubes in their water. I also put three frozen hard plastic blue ice packs in their brooder. They did fine. Friday the girls and I spent the afternoon in the blow up pool and watched the chicks in the outside pen. I misted the chicks down a few times on Friday as well as the dog. I went inside to start dinner and it was 98 degrees inside the house ARG! I don't have A/C yet. We are going to have to suffer through one more summer with out it. That night the chicks stayed outside until it got dark. The outside pen isn't predator proof so I will not let them stay out past dark. Honey and Darby now have all of their feathers in but with Crystal it's hard to say. Silkie feathers are a lot like chick feathers. They are fast out growing the brooder. I need to get the new indoor coop built but money is tight and we need to wait for that government stimulus check. I'll post pictures of the process.

Week Four Flew By

Ok I worked all week and I finally got the growth chart slideshow working. It's not as fast as I wanted it to be but hey it works. Now you can see just how big they great in just a short amount of time. We put the chicks outside for the first time on Wednesday. I had wanted to do that last weekend but it was just too windy. I will apologize now for the narration by my husband and daughter. But I needed help and getting the chicks is a family project. As for the chicks they are expending their treat pallet. They have had mac and cheese, green beans, fish and I tried cheerios again. All were big hits. My little Honey has lost almost all of her chick down and is still as sweet as can be. Darby with her wild hair due is a little hellion. She is fighting for the top chick position. And Crystal is still the perfect cute chick. This week I plan on putting them outside for a little bit everyday in the mid afternoon. I am waiting to get the money to buy the materials for their new inside coop. That should be happening in the next two to three weeks. I hope they don't out grow the brooder before that.

Chick Growth Charts

Bye Week Three

And poof week three is gone. It's been a busy week too. A field trip, shopping, a birthday party, birthday dinners and two worn out kids. The chicks didn't get the half hour of one on one time with me this week but I did what I could. Darby took flight this week. She flew from the big chair and landed on the couch. Their favorite treat is hard boiled egg whites. Crystal, being the smallest you would think that if she got a treat she would eat it fast or run and hide to eat it. No she runs around the brooder peeping she fool head off. I'm not sure if she is dumb or if she likes it when she gets chased. Honey is getting huge. She got to ride on my shoulder for the first time and she seemed to enjoy it. I told her better do it while she is a chick because I'm not sure I'll be able to comfortably have an eight pound bird on the shoulder. I'm hoping that this Sunday will be warm enough and not too windy to take the chicks outside for the first time. I will be sure to get video of that. And I am still working on a way to post the slide show of the chick growth chart.

Toddler Stage?

I'm not sure if I am being accurate but to compare the chicks to my children I think I'm right on. In both the physical and emotional means the chicks are starting to act like toddlers. The chicks are starting to fight to establish a pecking order. Human toddlers scream, cry and hit at their friends because they are trying to get their own way and don't have the words to do that properly. The chicks have become very messy eaters. More food ends up in the bedding then in their tummys. Our toddlers are messy eaters learning how to use their fingers and forks to eat with. If a chick gets a treat she'll run around the brooder playing keep away. If a toddler has a cool toy or treat they run up to their friends and say "Neener Neener Neener!" (this of course would earn my kids a time out and get their snack or toy taken away) And lastly a toddler is going through a big change in their bodies and they look a little awkward running and playing. The chicks with their fast growing and feathers coming in look a little scruffy and gangling. What will the next stage hold? Whinny, attitude, back talking kindergartners? Oh gosh I hope not I already have one of those! LOL. No not really Megan is a pretty good kid but she is a girl and she has her moments.

Week Two

In a flash there goes week two. Oh my how big they got. And they look really scruffy too. Crystal is a sweet heart and very calm. She lets Megan do anything to her and she hardly even peeps about. Darby is still a wild chick. She'll fly off the big chair, fit the ground and start running. I'm not sure if she is running to explore or if she is trying to get out of spending time with my wild child Emily. Honey is a gem and I love her. I'll hold her and she cuddles on me. If I had her in diapers I'd have her ride on my shoulder she really likes it. I don't have much planned for week three. This is a busy weekend so I don't know when the girls will have time to spend with their chicks. I will keep everyone updated as the week goes on. Happy Peeping.

OK Floor Time is Over!

Alright I have to come up with a new way for the girls to play with the chicks. Between the girls not listening to me and the chicks running off the sheet all I am doing is yelling. Yesterday Darby wanted nothing to do with Emily and I can't blame her. Who wants to be picked up then set down then picked up again over and over. Megan won't let Crystal be. She holds her and keeps her from exploring and then tries to push treats in her face. UURRGG! What drought last night to a halt was that Emily squished Crystal so hard that she peeped screamed. So I think that we are going to go to one on one time. I'll let Emily hold Darby in the big chair when Megan is at school and Megan can hold Crystal when Emily is in bed. I'll still have my time with each chick later at night when all is quiet. Soon the chicks will be big enough to spend time with all of us in the outside pen. That will be a big milestone for all of us.

School Chicks

At Megan's school the kindergarten classes got about 20 hatching eggs from McMurray Hatchery. They got the Assorted Top Hat package which could hatch into a variety of breeds that have feather poofs on top of their heads; Buff laced, Golden, Silver, White, Black and White Crested Black Polish, Mottled Houdans, Crevecoeurs, and Sultans. The classes candled the eggs a few times during the three weeks of incubation. At first all the eggs looked viable but as the days passed fewer and fewer eggs looked alive. This weekend they hatched and only four chicks out of the twenty made it out of their eggs. One of those four didn't make it and one of the three remaining chicks is missing an eye. It may be a bit disappointing but at least they have three that seem to be doing quiet well. Watch them all turn out to be Roosters! If I had to made my best guess from the pictures I've seen on the Internet I would have to say that all three chicks are the Golden Polish. We will just have to wait and see. I'll keep you posted.

My Little Honey

Aw my little Honey girl. She real is a sweet heart. The picture of her wing was taken on day 11. She has a beautiful set of baby feathers and loves to fly off the top of the food jar. The picture on the right is Honey cuddling under my hand. If I take my hand away then put it down in another spot she'll come over and push her way back under it. I think she thinks my hand is her Mama Hen. When I let her sit on my chest (on a towel) she will climb up to my neck and peep in my ear. She'll even try to climb to the top of my head. But I won't let her. I don't want poop on my bed. I am really falling in love with her.

First Treats

I asked a few people on my yahoo groups what would be a good first chick treat. Almost everyone told me eggs, hard boiled or scrambled. So I put some out on the blanket I use for "floor time" with the girls. As you can see they pecked at it but the girls didn't really give them a chance to really enjoy their treat. I'll try again during my one on one time with them to see if it goes over a little better.

We got though week one!

Wow! It's been great. And what week of learning it has been. I'm still working on getting the chicks to not be so afraid of me when I open the brooder but I guess that will come in time. I've gotten into a routine with them. In the morning I change and fill their food and water. In the afternoon Megan and Emily get to hold their chicks on the floor. In the evening I hold each chick for awhile, clean their table, change the food and water out again then I take a picture of each chick to track it's growth for this blog. I'll get a sideshow up here once I figure out how. This isn't just my first time raising chicks it's also my first time making a blog too. My computer skills are drastically lacking.
The chicks are growing like weeds. All of them have "real" feathers on their wings and Honey and Darby have the beginnings of tail feathers. They are starting to eat more too. I may have to upgrade to a larger food jar by the end of this next week. They are learning to scratch in their bedding to find food that has been miss placed. Darby will even scratch out a hole in the bedding all the way down to the cage floor! We put two toys in the brooder but so far they have ignored them. They aren't as freaked out anymore when Mugsy comes sniffing at the cage. I will try to get pictures of them with their wings spread out and maybe some flying practice video. That is if my computer doesn't try crashing on my again. It doesn't like my new digital camera.
Well, hope that you all keep coming back to watch our chicks grow some more in week two.

Chick Poop

Well, I guess I should talk about what chicks do best, besides look cute. They poop and they poop a lot. Everyone told me chick poop smells. I'll tell you the truth I haven't noticed any smell yet. Now I do only have three chicks so maybe more would but mine don't as of yet. The brooder is in my little kitchen and less then six feet from my computer so if they smelled you'd think I couldn't miss it. I picture above is of the brooder before I took up the paper towels. In a 24 hour period all the dots on the paper are poop. I took away the towels on Friday so now they are only on the Care Fresh Bedding. Every night I clean off their "table", twice a day I clean and change the food and water. Every two days I take everything out chicks and all and mix up the bedding. I'm not sure when I'll change out all the bedding but I guess when I think it dirty enough or if it ever starts to smell.
Now what about poops that happen when I'm holding them? Well, that's easy I use a poo towel. When the girls have them on the floor I use a poo blanket. And to make sure they don't step in it I just use a tissue and pick it up. The Poop isn't solid but it's not running either. I know it's gross but think frosting. :P Once they are big enough I'll get them chicken diapers to wear when they are wondering through the house. For more info and pictures of chickens in diapers go to Ruth's Chicken Diaper web site.

Emily and Darby

I decided to let Emily hold her chick after all. She has been very gentle with petting her so I thought she'd do fine at holding the chick too. With supervise of course. As you can see she did great. You can hear Megan being a "mini-mom" in the back ground.

Snacks or Friends?

This is my first baby. His name is Mugsy and he is now 10 years old. I've had him longer then I've had my husband. He is the sweetest and most protective dog I've known. No one comes into my house unannounced. If they do they'd be running back out the door until I let them back come in. But the children can do anything to him and he just takes it. Even after his two knee surgeries he let the kids cuddle him even though he was in pain.

When he was a little over a year old I brought home my first litter of five abandoned kittens(three lived). He helped me raise them. He'd be at the kittens cage before I could get there. He cleaned their faces and bottoms for me. Two years ago came the second litter of four kittens. Mugsy was kind to them but didn't show the same enthusiasm as he did with the first litter. I guess after three kittens, and two human babies he must have been thinking, "Been there done that." LOL

Now with the chicks he is showing a lot of interest in them but I'm not sure of his intent. He stands and shares at them and snuffs in the corners of the brooder. If he is in the house when I take a chick out to sit and cuddle with he whines and paces. I let him sniff and "kiss" the chicks but I feel that the affection is different then with the kittens. I hope I'm wrong but I think if he had a chance the chicks would be snacks. I will just have to see how he does with them as they get older. I'll make sure that I keep our little chickies safe.

Meet the Babies!

I finally had some free quiet time to spend with the chicks. I had originally had planned to leave them alone until Sunday. You know only handle them to clean the cage and some times their bottoms. Well that went out the window fast. If I could I'd carry them around with me all day. They are just so sweet. OK now for the introductions.

The top picture is Darby. She belongs to my youngest Emily. She calls her "Chickie Darby." Darby is a Buff Laced Polish. She should grow up to be about 4 pounds and have a beautiful feather poof on top of her head. Emily is not quite three yet so of course I do not let her hold Darby. I hold her in my hands and Emily uses a finger to pet her head and kisses her when I put her back in the brooder. Darby is fast becoming the head chick. She has a wild streak in her that if she keeps will be a prefect match for Emily as they grow up.

On the left meet Crystal. She is the whole reason we started our chicken adventure. Crystal is Megan's baby. She is a Blue Silkie and should be under 3 pounds full grown. Silkies are called the lap dog of the chicken world. They keep the "chick look" their whole lives. Their feathers lack the tiny hooks that would make them look normal. Megan wanted a white silkie so that when the chick got older she could use food coloring to dye Crystal's feathers. Yes, I know it's crazy but Megan is six and a total girly girl. I hope that Crystal and Megan become the best of friends.

At the right is my Honey. As a standard Buff Orpington she will be our big Mama at around seven pounds. I choose an Orpington for two reasons. One my Grandfather had one as a child that was more like a dog then a chicken. It even slept with the dog. And two I love the golden color of their feathers. I named her Honey because of that gorgeous color. Orps are most likely the model for big fat cartoon hens.

So there you have them. I am trying to make a slide show of each chick with them standing in front of a growth chart. I will take a picture of each chick every day to show just how fast they will grow. Keep checking in for a lot more pictures, video and stories.

Our first Video

Well this is a video of our first few moments with the chicks. If it works I'll have lots more to come.

Everything is going quite well. The family that I shared my order with came this morning to pick up their two chicks. So that leaves us with three little peeps. I'll get better pictures of them tomorrow and go into detail of who is who. I wanted them to get food, water and sleep before I started pushing a camera in the becks. As it is we have had several visits today by our neighbors who are all interested in our new and different pets. I'm lucky that my neighbors are supportive of our little adventure because I have no clue on how noisy they will be. X X Fingers crossed.

The Chickies are Here!

After months of research, weeks of waiting for them to get here and one night of restless sleep the chicks are finally here. My Pet Chicken called me on Monday to tell me that the chicks had been shipped but there was a problem with the order. Turns out that they didn't get enough white silkie chicks to go around so they sent a blue silkie instead. I had to tell my six year old Megan, that her chick was going to be different. She teared up a bit but after seeing some pictures of blue silkies she decided that blue was cute.

Tuesday's delivery time came and went and no chicks. Megan cried all the way home from school and then asked to go and check at the Post Office just in case. But still no chicks. Megan didn't sleep well last night which means neither did I. She was worried about the chicks.

At 7:35 this morning the Post office called. Megan and I went straight there. We walked into the back of the Post Office and into the sorting room. (we live in a small town so it has a small P.O.)There on the desk was the box. We popped it open and counted 1,2,3,4,5 chicks all alive and peeping! We rushed them home to put them into the heated brooder. Each chick got her beck dipped into the the water dish first thing to make sure they knew were it was. Within five minutes all were eating and drinking great. I'm trying to get a short video posted but I'm not sure how. I'll post more in a little bit.