An Outing and a Mauling

     We had a fatality.  One of our meat chicks was a little lethargic one day, and in the morning when the girls went to check on the chicks he was dead. I had a quick burial in the rain this morning. We are down to 30 chicks now, and if I think about how much I have invested in the little buggers it makes me a little nauseous.
     Having them has been a fun experience for the girls though. We had a nice sunny day so took a few of them outside to get some sun.
    They are so cute pecking and scratching for food, they sure think they are big birds. 

     We started out keeping them in the rabbit enclosure, since we weren't sure how the dog and cats would react to them. It wasn't long before they were begging for a field trip to the local hotel.

    
     I tried to get a good picture of the naked necks. 

     

     See? They look like little vultures. We have two of these, and they seem a little more aggressive than the other chicks. The girls have been giving them night crawlers and these guys always manage to get a piece.

     Jerry the cat pretended disinterest.

 
      Gauge, the dog, was sure we brought him snacks. He managed to contain himself, but just barely. 

        What a good boy. I think some of the chicks had drool on them.
     
 Nora had a blast with them. She is pretty good about holding them gently. Pretty good. Some of them went for rides down the slide with her. 

     While others just got lots of love. Really. It's love. 

     The chicks are moving to their new home Thursday evening, so we went and got a few things set up for them. They are moving into a fish house. Corey said it has nicer windows than some people have in their home. I'm sure they will appreciate it.
 

 
 We will miss having them at our house, but they are kind of smelly little beasts, and I won't miss changing their bedding every day. Also, they are getting big enough to escape the kiddie pool they live in. Last night there was an awful lot of cheeping coming from the basement, and when Lauren went to check one was out of the pool and screaming for his friends.
    You know I'll update more soon!!


    

Picking up Chicks

     We got a call Saturday evening from the Bemidji post office letting us know that our chicks had arrived and  wondering if we wanted to just drive on down and pick them up rather than have them delivered Monday. Ummmm.....No. That call did give us warning that it was time to get a little place set up for them in the basement. Corey and the kids prepped while I was at work. They set up a heat lamp over a kiddie pool lined with newspaper and wood shavings for bedding.
     This morning the Williams post office called to let us know the peepers had arrived. 

 

     I could see through the air holes that we had at least one fatality so we hurried to get the box open and give the chicks water. The remaining chicks didn't look too perky right away, but after a drink and a little food they all look pretty healthy. 

 

    I ordered 15 meat birds that will mature quickly and 15 assorted heavy male chicks that will also be for meat. We didn't know what breeds we would get, but we knew with our order we'd get one exotic chick.  We ended up getting two naked neck chickens and two with fuzzy feet. The naked necks  look like tiny vultures. They are so ugly they are almost cute.

    
   
     I'll get better pictures tomorrow, we were trying not to harass them too much right away.  That being said, we did have to love on them a little bit. 

     Peyton is already very attached and worried about the plan for these babies. I was worried about that, but I think it's important for people to think about where their food comes from. The girls already hunt and fish, so they get it, but it will be tough to handle.