Tuesday, May 5, 2009

They're Here...

... and they are the cutest little things you ever saw!



Here are some pictures of our latest additions, five day-old chicks that we purchased from MyPetChicken.com:

From Spring 09


Luke is holding an Australorp chick; we found them - and their sisters, Easter Eggers, using the My Pet Chicken breed selector tool. The breeds we chose are winter-hardy, lay 5 or more eggs a week (in pretty colors!), and most importantly are known to be gentle breeds. Cute, too!



Here they are, in the cardboard brooder made by Ben:



From Spring 09


From Spring 09


From Spring 09


They are under a special light that puts out lots of heat - new babies need it to be around 95 degrees - and it looks like a darkroom even when I used the flash; they are getting daylight, although the pictures don't show it.



When we first got them, all of two hours ago, they huddled together and didn't explore much. But then Luke trained them to go to the waterer and feeder by getting them to follow his fingers! A born animal lover, that kid.



I have held them a few times, and I'm happy to say that I've not been attacked, even once! ...Did I mention my extreme fear of chickens? Luke, of course, picks them up and snuggles them into his palms, as if he's done this every day of his life so far.



Stay tuned, I somehow think that I'll be blogging about the chicks often...

7 comments:

Adele Miller said...

I love the fear of chickens. . . you are too funny.
They all look wonderful! Congrats on your new additions.

Anonymous said...

And the collective blogosphere just went "awwwwwwww" all together!! So precious!!

Tracy said...

YOUR SWEET BABIES HAVE ARRIVED!!!!!

Sounds like you had no casualties in shipping and that they are adjusting perfectly well!!! GREAT job on the brooder, Ben!

Enjoy enjoy enjoy! The chick stage doesn't last nearly long enough. In about a week or two they will start to look like they've come down with some sort of strange feather disease, but it's just the awkward stage of "feathering-in". Can't wait to see lots more pictures!

Congratulations and welcome to the world of pet chickens!

Dana said...

Wow-I'm going to be very interested in seeing how this progresses. 5 or more eggs a week...nice.

Karen said...

Thanks, everyone.. I would be a MUCH happier Mama if I hadn't injured my back building their chicken coop! Today, I am more-or-less self-ambulatory, tomorrow, I start PT - and soon after, I hope to be able to drive once again.

So far, Luke has named one chick, Hermione, who looks to be the 'mother hen' of this brood :-)

Anonymous said...

Well, the new little ones are adorable - for the moment! They will turn into chickens, you know, with beaks, searching for the nearest ankles to peck at... I know, I'm not being very nice. Hope your back gets better soon.
Love,
Mountainmama

Anonymous said...

How wonderful to have chicks! I can't help but think of "I Love Lucy" episodes. I hope your chicks don't get loose in the house like hers did. Enjoy! And happy Mother's Day.