And Speaking of Chicken Feed....

Here are the new additions to the family!  Born at approximately 6:00 AM on Saturday, February 26th.  They came home on Monday the 28th.

These are from the first week, taken March 2nd.

They sleep hard!

We are changing our breed this year and have decided to go with Buff Orpingtons.  This breed is supposed to be pretty calm and even bordering on timid.  They are good layers of large, brown eggs and (drum roll please!) the hens tend to get broody more than other breeds (that means they will sit on their eggs and hatch them for you).  Since our current chickens are approaching the end of their laying cycle, are meaner than snakes (they kill each other.  the hens, not the rooster), and don't get broody, this seems like a good change for us.  The best thing about getting a breed that will get broody  is that you don't have to keep investing in baby chicks every few years.  Hooray!

Our local Tractor Supply store (we love Tractor Supply!) even got Orpingtons in as a preferred breed this year.  We got fourteen straight run chicks.  Straight run means that we do not know whether they are pullets (girls) or cockerels (boys).  However, the hatchery that provided them to Tractor Supply guaranteed that the straight runs are 98% pullets.  While we don't need cockerels for egg-laying, we do need a cockerel to make that broody thing be productive.  Since we had only gotten fourteen we were beginning to wonder if we should try and get another five or six just to be sure we had one cockerel.  This week  we noticed that one of the babies was getting quite big but was not feathering out like the other ones.  Bingo!  That usually means a boy (they are big, but they don't mature as fast as the girls) (as all you girls and mothers of boys already know).  

So here they are as of March 13th at two weeks and one day old....

The little guy in front showing you his rear end is probably the cockerel.  I think we are going to call him Buckaroo Banzai.  Or maybe Perfect Tommy.

We call this stage of chick development the "Eagle Stage".  Notice how they are feathering out so well.  The next stage is commonly known as the "Dinosaur Stage".  When you see, you will understand.

So there you have it; the new additions!