Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Not so wordless wednesday, peep peep.

You know I missed my one year anniversary for this blog?  Oops.  Bad girlfriend.

At 7 am this morning, I got a call from the post office.

Me: Hello?
PO: Hello!  You're chicks have arrived!
Me:  OMFG!
All five babies
I got myself out of bed, tossed on some clothes and drove to the post office.  It wasn't open, but they told me to go to the delivery dock and ring the door bell, which I did, and they brought me out this tiny peeping box.  I instantly felt guilty for having them shipped.  Drove home, took the cheeping box down into the basement, and opened the box with a little bit of anxiety.  How many of the five babies I ordered survived?

Happy little chicks
The box contained five adorable babys, less than 72 hours old, cheeping frantically, but all healthy looking, no pasty butts and did I mention adorable?  I picked each one up, checked for pasty butt, and put them in the brooder that has been waiting for them for a few days now.  After they were all checked, I physically showed them the water, dipping their little beaks in ever so slightly, and then put in the chick feed, sprinkling a little bit on the ground around the feeder.  They got it almost instantly.

Resisting the urge to pick them all up and squee over them all morning, I took some pictures, and watched them run around.  My Buff Orpington seems to be the bully.  Immediately she started pecking at the others, nipping their feet and feathers.  I hope this isn't a bad thing.  My Easter Egger is the cutest I think.  My Australorp is the loud one.  She was definitely the one making the most noise in the box, and she's the one who makes the loudest peep-peep.  My silver-laced Wyandotte and my gold-laced Wyandotte seem to be small and frail, but both are very pretty.
Buff Orpington, and the Wyandottes
All this chicks are amusing to watch.  They are still quite wobbly, so they fall a lot.  Pecking for food is the most adorable thing I've ever seen, as is pecking the brooder wall, and the waterer.  They are so soft too.  Lilia absolutely loved them, though she didn't hold any- I want to give them a few days to settle down.  Lilia was so excited though, which is good.

In a few days, I'll put down the pine shavings for the bedding.  Not sure if I'm supposed to wait, but like parenting, it seems the advice on chickens can be contradictory.  Don't use newspaper, use newspaper, don't use pine shavings for a week, that's nonsense- use it from the start...no one ever seems to agree.  So I figured it can't hurt to wait a few days, so they learn what food is.  I will also add something for them to roost on in a few days.  I also need some grit, and something to put on top of the brooder.  Mainly for their own protection.  Right now I'm carefully watching the cat and the kids.  I haven't shown Liam the chicks, for fear he'll keep going down and let the cat down there too.  Hopefully we'll get a lock on the basement door soon.
Australorp, ake Loud Beak the Great

I'm so excited.  It was this time last year that I really thought about getting some chickens.  So it's something John and I have been talking about for a year, making plans and researching.  I've been reading, so I knew how to take care of them, and we'll hopefully have our coop done in the next few weeks.  That's probably the nerve-wrecking part- not getting that done.  At worst, we could go out and buy something, but in the long term, converting our garden shed will work for the best.  And it's probably the cheapest option, so long as we don't have to hire someone to do it, haha.  Which might happen...John and I aren't quite known for our skills in construction.  Even using a hammer and nail can be dangerous.  Alright, maybe we're not that bad.

Now we need names.  We have a Boco, and a Choco.  I guess I have to be a good parent and let the kids name at least one...though that's worked so well in the past.  Poor Guinea pig has gone from Winny, to Linny but is always called Guinea Pig.  Maybe I can convince them to pick Cheep-Cheep...

Super cool Easter Egger, AKA Choco

5 comments:

  1. wow - I learned more about chicks reading this post then I ever knew before. but mostly - they are super cute.

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  2. Aren't they? So much smaller than I expected too...

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  3. I am so ridiculously jealous it isn't even funny. Where did you get them? I've seen a couple of recommendations online but I'll always take a recommendation from someone I know over one from someone who writes on the Internet. (Even if the someone I know is also someone who writes on the Internet, lol.)

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  4. I got mine from My Pet Chicken- the chicks were hatched on Monday, and arrived today, so it's pretty fast. I'm pretty sure they are based in CT, though they don't have a store front. Shipping is really expensive though. I wasn't sure if I could get the breeds I wanted from our local TSS, so I ordered these little guys in February. Sure enough, my TSS only had one of the five breeds, so I'm glad I went with MPC, even if it did cost an arm and a leg.

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  5. I've heard their shipping is super expensive, but everything else I've heard about them has been good. I love the little form you can fill out on the site that gives you the breeds that will work best for your needs. Definitely keeping them bookmarked for when the time comes. :)

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