Monday, May 23, 2011

chickens!

we have had our chickens for almost two weeks now, and it has been so much fun for all of us. you may remember that we were incubating eggs. well, they were duds. after two weeks of faithfully turning and constant temperature monitoring, i candled the eggs only to find no air sac, no embryo spot, no signs of life. the next attempts to get new fertilized eggs were unsuccessful, so we ended up finding a farmer on craigslist who was offering sexed chicks ("90% assured AND if it crows, we'll buy it back") just outside of town. after borrowing a giant aquarium from a friend and making a last minute (chicks in the van) stop at coastal for bedding, food, and food/water containers, we finally arrived home with our brood. six, to be precise. two silver laced wyandottes, two gold laced wyandottes, and two road island reds. the kids (plus two friends who were with us that day) chose names: amidala, amelia, olivia, goldfeather, maya, and blue moon.

they are growing quickly, losing their down in place of feathers, and will be moving out to a new coop sometime in the next three or four weeks. pulp from the juicer is a favorite snack, though they love to peck around in the yard finding bugs, rocks, and whatever worms the kids dig out of the compost pile. it will be a while before we are getting any eggs, but for now they are the kids' favorite pets. :)







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