Daleville Diaries: Chick Day!

ITS HERE!!!!

I am so excited I can barely sit down to write this! Today we got our 5 new chicks! Each chick is a different breed and they all bring a little something to the table.

Firstly, I wasn't supposed to get chicks until March 4th. I had even put in for a personal day at work! However, yesterday I got a call saying that my chicks were in and I could come and get them. Turns out that the hatchery wouldn't have any of the Barnevelder chicks available on March 4th so they moved me up. I could have chosen a different dark brown egg layer but I was really excited about this one so I decided it would be fine to just get them a little early. Did I mention I was excited?

My mom was already set to come down for a little lunch today with John and I, so we altered our plans a bit to include the chicks.

I got dressed in my best flannel in honor of our day and we all headed off to Pickering Valley Feed and Farm bright and early to go get our box of peeping chicks!

YAY!!!!!

Randy the chicken guy helped us get everything we needed and rounded up the chicks. $112 later and I was one happy camper! (Farmer?)

We got home and hauled everything upstairs to what will be the chick nursery for the next 60 days. Turns out, baby chicks don't require too much. We got a heat lamp with red bulb to keep them toasty (95-100 degrees Fahrenheit for the first week, lowering by 5 degrees each week until you're at room temperature), medicated chick feed to keep them well fed and ward of any sicknesses, a feeder and waterer and some pine bedding. They also need a box. After this week, we will also need a screen for the box because they will become little escape artists.

We had to set everything up for their brooder.

Waterer, Feeders, Chick Feed, Lightbulb, Pine Bedding and Lamp.

A brooder is a fancy word for chick nursery. Its warm and safe and has access to food and water and it will keep them away from all of the predators. Namely our cats.

Fancy Chicken Box

After we got them settled in and loved on them as much as we thought we could before they would be stressed out, we left them alone to get used to their new surroundings.

I've been watching them all day now and getting to see their little personalities. You wouldn't think something so basic as a chicken, or so young as 3 or 4 days could really have a personality, but they do. Naming them was fun! We chose names from the list of popular names in 1910. I knew we wanted to give them names that would be silly and "farmy" so my mom suggested the earlier time period. Also, I don't know anyone by the names given to the chicks. So...

Much deliberation was had.

Meet the girls!

Gertrude

Gertrude is our Buff Orpington chick. She's the biggest of the group and looks like she will be the leader. She has a strong, motherly personality already!

Hazel

Hazel is the Barnevelder. The whole reason we went down early! She is a serious bird and quiet. She seems to like being held.

Harriet

Harriet is the wildest of the bunch. She is a Barred Plymouth Rock. Poor Randy had a heck of a time trying to wrangle her! She is very skittish and makes a lot of noise.

Nellie

This is Nellie. As a Silver Gray Dorking, she has 5 toes, which is more than our other chicks have. She's happy to be one of the flock for now.

Pearl

Last but not least is Pearl. She is an Americauna and will lay pretty blue and green eggs. She's the tiniest of the bunch. I got to pick her out because Americaunas do not have a set color and can turn out in a variety of ways!