One week later....

So this all started out as a valentine day gift. I received 6 adorable chicks.

It kinda caught me a little off guard but I smiled and waited for the next chicken foot to drop. That happened last weekend when we went shopping for real live chicks. It was fun but three chicks just seemed like not enough so right after last week's blog I began to plan the next trip for more chicks. Amy and Greg came down for the weekend and so today we took their 4 children and Kirsten and Jeremy's "oldest" 2 children and ran to the Farm Store. 

This is "Penny." She was actually named by Miss Brooke Guymon via texting this morning. I went to the store knowing that I was looking for Brooke's Penny. The sign on her store cage said she is a Rhode Island Red and will be a egg producer when she is mature. 

Doris went to the store wanting to get a "Black Silky." Last week we saw one but it was taken before we could buy it so today she was ready to select the cutest black silky and take it home with us. I'm not sure how she got her name but before I knew it everyone was calling it "Squirt" and I didn't take the time to ask why. We now have two Silk Chicks. Silky and Squirt. A cute pair of hens, too.

So we had one more chick to select to equal the same amount of chicks I had received on Valentines Day. This little pullet is an "Australlorp" and recognized the Country it is from, so she became the last one of the our brood. We thought and thought of her name and couldn't think of one we all liked until I declared, "Aussie" and everyone echoed an "Yeah." So Aussie it is.

And we brought the new birds home to meet the ones we bought last week. It was obvious how much they grow in one week. Here is Nellie and Squirt. I had no idea how big they grew in just one week. We were a liitle unsure how the old kids would accept the new kids so we did it slowly. Aussie the the first new chick to enter their metal tub home. Silky immediately started to peck and what appeared to harass Aussie. Then Nellie came over and acted the same way towards Aussie. Well we pulled Silky out and everyone seemed to get along. Doris held Silky and Squirt together and they seemed very happy to be together. At one time, Silky actually had her wing up and around Squirt's back and shoulder. Very touching to see this sibling love. We have now put them all back in the tub and they seem to be friendly to all. One big happy Family :)

This photo shows Cocoa in the middle of the newbies while Silky and Nellie talk over sleeping arraignments and other pecking order items. I'm hoping they have a great family council meeting tonight and they can become the best of friends, Just like the original Seven

Guess what I want to go do next weekend?      NO we are done !!! No more farm stores for any of us ! !

"Farming chickrens"

I raised 7 kids so how tough could it be to add chickens to my family tree? 

So we went to the local farm store and picked out a brood. This turned out a lot easier then having a doctor hand me only one every couple years. We brought them home and put them in Grandma Nelsons old wash tub. They immediately set up house keeping and looked very comfortable. I even made their own shavings which was also a lot easier then making bassinets. The store told us they are all about 2 weeks old.

We invited Lily and Chi over to the chicken "shower" and they helped us name them. This is "Silky" and is definitely the softest chick of the brood. It is a bantam silk chick and will grow up to be the prettiest. It has feathers on it's feet. After only a few hours at home, Carrie declared that Silky is already showing signs of growth.

As we were taking these chicks portraits this cute little Buff Orpington took a pose which identified her as a member if the high order of Ninja's. She was the last one to receive a name. Ninja Nellie, but we'll just call her Nellie because she looks like a Grandma Nelson kind of chicken. We were told that this breed is usually the "mama" of the brood. Hopefully she'll take good care of her sisters.

The last one we brought home today is Cocoa. She is a pretty striped "Americano." She will lay easter eggs. Usually light blues and greens, and they will be smaller eggs. 

We decided to get chicks to grow so that we could have fresh eggs. But now that we have had them for several hours, I decided that I also like the soft little chirps they all make. It's kind of comforting. I am sure as they grow and become adults, their noises will change too. We are also hoping that one day we aren't awoken with crowing. The store said there is no guarantee as to cockerels/pullets or in other words boy/girls in picking out chicks. Maybe by 8 weeks a real chicken farmer could begin to tell. I didn't get to pick my kids either and they all turned out perfect.

PS. We are already planning to take Lily and Chi to the farm store next weekend and have them help pick out 3 more chicks. Look out Colonel Sanders, you'll soon have major competition.