We received notice on Tuesday that our baby chicks had been shipped. Today is Thursday and the telephone rang at 6:45 a.m. It was the post office calling to say that we had chicks waiting and to come on down and get them. Only in a small town will they tell you that you don’t have to wait until opening time – just come to the back door.

So here’s what we got!

Two-day old chicks straight from Texas. You have to admit that they’ve had a pretty big first couple of days.

Our mudroom is temporary home to Paul’s fancy “condo” chicken brooder. It’s a double-decker model. We can separate the chicks as they start to get bigger.

We ordered three different types of chicks – Cornish Rock (meat chickens) and Plymouth Barred Rock and Buff Orpingtons (egg layers). After ordering I had a moment of panic and contacted the company. “How will I know which chicks are which?!”  Here’s the response I received:

The Cornish Rock will be the only bright yellow breed in your order. The Barred Rock will be black and the Buff Orpington will be a golden buff color. Please send us photos of your order via email, if you are not able to identify the breeds and we will identify them for you.

Can you tell this is my first experience with chicks? Growing up an army brat was not conducive to these kinds of bucolic experiences!

Hannah is excited about the chickies – now that she knows that cleaning out the chicken coop will not be added to her list of chores on a regular basis.

She’s working on a list of names for the egg layers (no naming the meat chickens allowed!). If you have any suggestions, leave us a comment. Hannah will take it under consideration.

Sadly, two of the meat chickens were DOA. Keep your fingers crossed for the rest of them! Here’s a look at their introduction to their new home.

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