Wednesday, March 5, 2008

I've got me some babies!

I am the very proud momma to six baby chicks!

Allow me to introduce our new arrivals (handsome modeling hands courtesy of Aidan):
Two Silver-Laced Wyandottes:

Two Black Sex Link (a.k.a. Black Stars):

and my surprise of the day...
Two White Crested Black Polish (the Light Brahmas didn't hatch, so I took a leap of faith on a breed I know very little about. Daring or stupid? We shall see!) Look at their funny little puffball heads:

Learning to drink:

Sleeping, not dead:


On the drive home, there was quite a bit of bickering going on in the chick box, so I thought it was a good time, while I had a captive audience, to establish some ground rules:

House Rules
1. No dying
2. No pecking our sisters in the eyes (not everyone has agreed to this yet)
3. No sleeping face first in the water
4. No eating the pine chip bedding (even with paper towels on top, they seem to be obsessed)
5. Drink lots of water every day
6. No dying! (this one's important enough to reiterate)
7. No turning into roosters

And here are my girls getting used to their new home. (Please note at least one of the house rules already being broken):



The cool chicks hang out by the thermometer:

Roxy is fascinated (I'm keeping a very close eye on her):


Another six arrive tomorrow!

Picture me, smiling *really* big right now. :-)

21 comments:

  1. They are so cute!!!
    I used to have some chickens while we were in the country in NE. Now we are in the city and can't do that.I loved your house rule # 7!!
    So funny! Good luck!
    My chicks lived in my laundry room for a while till it was warm enough to move them out in the coop.
    Your photos brought some good memories!

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  2. yayyyyyy! Congrats on your new chicks. They listen so well already!

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  3. What a proud mama. Happy Birthday BTW. That pecking in the eye was a crack up. So cute, and those Polish Crested with those heads already puffy! My Murray McMurray hatchery catalog says that the bodies are black with white top hats. The picture (drawing) makes them look like they are wearing wigs. It also says that they lay white eggs, I want some white eggs! We plan on getting a few more soon, I want warmer weather first. I'd like a breed that gets broody, none of mine are cooperating. I don't have a rooster but read they can be good foster mothers for day old babies.

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  4. Excellent ground rules!

    Those are the cutest chicks ever. The Polish Crested ones crack me up--they look like they're wearing little fuzzy bike helmets.

    Is it your birthday today? If so, happy birthday!

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  5. OK now I want some puffy headed ones! I am so glad you got them and LOL on the peck in the eye. Maybe not for the chick.

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  6. I left a comment earlier about your new baby chicks and wishing you a happy birthday. Did my comment get lost again? How does that happen anyway?

    Anyway, congratulations on your new babies, and I hope you are having a fantastic birthday.

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  7. :O I am so jealous! You have top hats! When they feather out, they'll look just like Albert Einstein! You won't help but giggle everytime you look at them. I wanted to add some of those for the giggle factor in our flock. Happy Birthday and Congrats on the new arrivals! Can't wait to see how much fun you have with them!

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  8. Okay picture me smiling really big right now! I am so happy for you! And oh yeah...Happy Birthday to You...

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  9. I thought that was OUR youtube video!! We put it on youtube, too, last April!!
    Did you clean their little butts, too! lol? I had to do that. ...
    They grow up so quick! Enjoy ;-)
    Congratulations to the new arrival!!

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  10. http://cdgagudl.blogspot.com/2007/04/our-baby-chicks-video.html

    that is a link to our video...believe me, WE KNOW!!

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  11. They're so cute! They look just like when we got our chickens-watch out, they get big! ;-)
    Haha, nice comment, mom. Yes, my mother was the cleaning lady.
    Congratulations! Are you going to name them? (If you're planning on cooking them, I wouldn't name them...aww, that's what we said, and look, our's have names)
    ~Mellimaus

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  12. How could anyone NOT love little chicks? I bet Roxy can hardly stand it. When I played the video, my dog started whining and freaking out when she heard the chirping. Maybe she remembers our little chicks in a box?! She loved to visit them.

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  13. What a perfect Birthday present!

    Congrats on your new girls!!

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  14. Congratulaions on being a Cool Chick Mama. We used to have a Silver Laced Polish hen, and we called her Tina Turner.
    Good luck!!!

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  15. Hi yaroslavna! If I don't get an outdoor coop built for my girls soon, they'll be living in *my* laundry room, too! :-)

    Hi frugalmom, thanks for the congrats. I feel like I should be passing out cigars or something.
    :-D

    Hi sugarcreekstuff, thanks for all the birthday wishes - it was a good, good day! I had looked up some info on my polish babes, but missed the part about the white eggs - very cool.

    Hi meg: I know - I can't even look at these little puffy heads without giggling. It is my birthday today and...thank you! :-)

    Hi goatgirl: Seriously, what's the point of ground rules if they aren't followed? They are all going straight for the eyes! Oh, I saw your email about your farm store having some of the puffy-heads, also...that'll be cool if you get some too!

    Hi farmer jen - thanks again for all the good wishes!! Yeah, Blogger seems to eat comments just for fun sometimes. :-)

    Hi cathy - your comment totally cracked me up. Top hats and Albert Einstein - AWESOME! And you're totally right - just watching them cracks me up. They aren't just hilarious looking, they have these funny little personalities, too. Thanks for all your good wishes! :-)

    Judy! I know - can you believe it? I've had this goofy grin on my face all damn day. (thank you)

    Hi gudl...So far, no pasty butt, so I haven't had to clean them up yet...I won't be surprised it that happens, though - I hear it's pretty common. I looked at your video - they're so similar!! It was fun hearing Mellimaus talking in the background! :-)

    Hi Michele, it must be something about the high pitched peeping that drives the doggies crazy. Roxy is being very good, but she is very curious and anything I do, she wants to do, too. So, if I need to lean over and into the box, she thinks she needs to jump up on the side and get her big ol' head in there, too. I wonder if your dog remembers!...how interesting.

    Hi rural writer - thanks for the congrats. It's awesome to finally be cool...I don't think I ever got there with my own boys :-) :-) :-).
    Tina Turner sounds like she was lovely! LOL

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  16. Ohh....I'm so happy for you guys!!
    hYour family is in for lots of fun and enjoyment, and those are some lucky girls...I know you'll give them them the best chickeny life ever!

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  17. Okay, these are not goats, but even I have to admit they are pretty darned cute! Perhaps they are not pecking at the eyes at all and are really practicing butting. I think that has to be it. Congratulations. Maybe they will like Peanuts.

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  18. Congratulations! They're so cute! They look JUST like the chicks we have...well, we had. Now they aren't chicks anymore! Wait until they're...oh, 5 times that size! Some get HUGE! I remember they're SO cute to look at, and when they're little, they're lots of fun to hold.
    They're almost the same, except I don't think our chickens disobeyed rule number 2....we didn't have an eye pecking problem AT ALL I think....
    Can't wait to hear about the 6 you get today!

    ~Mellimaus

    P.S. You've inspired me, I think I'm going to do a chicken post soon....
    I left a few comments yesterday on this post, but you must not have gotten them...maybe you did? Anyway, I'll just comment again. ;-)

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  19. Is anyone else having Blogger issues? It is really ticking me off! Comments are disappearing and I just wrote this long response and *poof* it disappeared!

    Mellimaus and Kristen - thanks for your comments. I only *just now* found them and they are now posted.

    Kristen - thank you for your congrats, they were really an awesome bday gift! I'm so excited! :-)

    Mellimaus (Abby): I only found one of your missing comments, so if you posted others, I fear they are gone forever! :-(
    You should definitely blog about your hens. I want to see pictures of what they look like now!!

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  20. Yay! They are so cute. I can't wait to get chicks!

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  21. These guys sure are cute!

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