They're here!

I had just gotten out of bed (7:30) and the phone rang. It was the post office calling to say they had a peeping box for us. I told her I had to get my kids up (they were all still in bed) but we'd be there soon. She asked if I wanted my carrier to bring them. I told her I don't get my mail until the afternoon. She asked a few people there and we decided it would be best if I came to get them. It was easy to get the kids up... "Hey, the chicks are here. We have to go get them!" They all scrambled out of bed, got dressed and were downstairs rather quickly. (I did have to take Kemiah's sheet, blankets and jammies down to the washing machine because she had wet her bed. Oh well.) We made the short trip to the post office and I asked, "Do you want to wait here or come inside with me?" They all wanted to come in so they all unbuckled and went in. There were a few snow flurries coming down and it was cold. It was a quick trip in, grabbed the box and went back out to the car. It was so fun to hear their peeping! We got them home and went up to the bathroom. The kids helped transfer them to the shower - they brought them to me so I could put them in one by one to show them where to get water. It was so loud in the shower stall with all those little chicks peeping away - some can get really loud.

I was so glad that I took the time to actually clean the shower door before we got the chicks. It made a huge difference. It's actually clear and we can watch the chicks very easily, without making them too cool.




Their new environment with the food stuff in the red tray. It took them a little while before they figured out they could eat it but once they did it was madness. Now they are eating gravel type food. Kevin rearranged things when he got home and placed the box they were shipped in on the floor of the shower so they could use that as a sleeping area. It worked for a while but now they sleep where ever and still usually in a group. Which is funny to watch because if anyone wiggles it wakes the entire pile up.

The kids were so excited to hold the chicks. Xiomara.... not so much. She's still afraid of animals. She will pet them if they are in someone else's hand or on the ground but she ran out of this picture when her black chick ran towards her.

Production Red...


Buff Orpington...

Black Sex...

It has been a fun day with the chicks, watching them, holding them, petting them and so forth. They have settled down quite a bit and aren't peeping as loud. They have figured out how to lay down to sleep instead of trying to sleep standing up. They are eating well and everything seems to be going great (for the first day). We ordered 25 and they ended up sending us 27 - 9 of each type: Black Sex, Production Reds, and Buff Orpingtons. They hatched on Wednesday so they are very young and small. It amazes me that they already know so much - walking, eating, jumping, drinking, sleeping, pecking and other such things.

We tried rotating through the chicks as we handled them so that they would not get overwhelmed or too dehydrated. We want to handle them a lot so that they will grow up used to us - like our other chickens. I think what we'll have to do in the future is just pull out one type at a time so that we know they are all getting handled and no one is left out. We shall see.

The other excitement for the day was that the three oldest kids started piano lessons. A friend from Church is teaching them and they are all excited. Xiomara asked if she could too but I told her she would have a wait a little while. Maybe one of the other kids will teach her as they learn and she'll be the best piano player of them all. As with anything new they are very excited and took turns practicing today (between periods of watching the chicks).