Happy Birthday Little One

This is not one of the best pictures, and I hope to take better ones tomorrow. Today, on my birthday, this little chick was born. One of our chickens stopped laying eggs and started brooding, which is really common in the spring, and she would sit on eggs constantly. Concerned that this cycle would not stop and she would get weaker and weaker we found some fertilized eggs for her and she has happily kept them warm. Today this little chick was born and I helped another one come out of a partially cracked egg, what an amazing experience. I am just amazed at the instincts of our bantam chicken, she was raised by us in a little box but she totally knows what to do and is so gentle and attentive. Nature rules.

A Day in the Life of Chicks

Meet the first two chicks of our new flock. Five chicks were supposed to arrive by mail this week, but because of incubator failure we did not receive them. We still kept the order, and they should be here on the week of the 27th. In the meantime, we heard of a local kid who was selling week-old chicks so we got two, and they are unbelievably cute. Who knew that I could get so attached to little birdies.

Cloudy
possibly a frizzle bantam cochin

Still nameless, maybe
Mama Chick (for her protective streak), Funster, or Fuzzy Feet
possibly a Barred Cochin Bantam

A day in the life of week-old chicks goes like this:

wake-up early
peep
eat
poop
drink
scratch
peep
poop
practice flying
stretch-angel pose
fall over
poop
drink
peep
peck
eat your mate's poop directly from the butt
peep
fluff feathers
poop
peep
take a nap
repeat in random order
have an early bedtime

Chicks were ordered!

I just put an order for five chicks! I will post pictures as soon as I get them in two weeks! Am I crazy? Time will tell....