The Broody Momma: March 2012

Well, it's been about a week and I'm happy to report that our tiny flock is doing well. They are all very healthy and growing fast! A few of them are starting to grow little tail feathers and their wing feathers are getting longer and fuller.


Opal and Esther. Check out Esther's tail feathers!

Today my daughter and I moved their box into the laundry room. They were residing in our walk in closet, which was fun for a while, but their poop creates a dust that I didn't want on my clothes....plus they were getting kind of stinky.
They didn't seem to mind their move, but wow when i put them into a new clean box they sort of went a little crazy! They all started cheeping and peeping like crazy, and they started scratching a pecking like little maniacs. It definitely made my 4 year old and I laugh! They also had silly freak out moment when my husband was playing a toy accordion. They all huddled in the corner together and were cheeping to loud as if to say "WHAT IS THAT!! MAKE IT STOP!" and of course Sarah put her daddy in his place.

"Dad!!! If you're too loud you can stress them out, and if they get too stressed out they can DIE!"

Sarah and Opal.

So, so far nothing too too exciting to report. The chicks are really low maintenance (which is awesome for a busy momma!) Hopefully we'll build their coop next week.

Well here goes my first attempt at a real blog. I was hoping to start this on Sunday, but my family caught a death-like virus, so I've been out of commission.

Anyway, it all started last summer when I was pet sitting for my friend Talina, who was down at The Farm for her homebirth. Talina basically has a small zoo in her backyard, a dog, a few cats, some bunnies, and chickens. The chickens were awesome. They were very friendly, gentle, and sweet. They even let my then 3 year old daughter pick them up. After caring for them for a few weeks, I decided that owning chickens was something I really wanted to do.

Fast forward to this year...

I did tons of research as to which breed of chicks we wanted to get. I spent way too much time on .mypetchicken.com playing around with their breed selection tool! And I ultimately decided that I wanted to get Ameraucanas. They are cold hardy, good layers, and friendly. They also lay blue/green eggs!

I like to support local businesses, and I didn't want to buy from a large hatchery so I found a local farm to get my chicks from. Through facebook I started conversing back and forth with Jennifer from Graff Hill Farms for a while about acquiring some Ameraucana chicks. Since only breeders can provide true Ameraucanas, I ended up getting Easter Eggers, which are basically Ameraucanas, just not pure bred.

It took about 3 weeks for the eggs to hatch, and then the day had finally come....time to pick up the chicks! The kids and I got into the car and headed over to the farm to pick up the cute little fluff balls. I let Sarah pick which ones she wanted, and we brought all 6 of them home in a small cardboard box.
When we got home we transferred them to their "brooder" which is a large cardboard box with pine shavings on the bottom, a chick waterer, a feeder, a brooder light to keep them warm, and a thermometer so I can keep tabs on the temperature of the brooder. I ended up just buying a small reptile thermometer from a pet store, and it works great.

We promptly named them upon my dear daughter's request, even though i suggested waiting until they are bigger...since we don't know which are males and which are females. But we named them anyway...it is easier to tell them apart if they're named. We decided to go the traditional route and give them old lady names.

Meet the chicks...