Chicken Glamour Shots

Last Summer, we brought home a few baby chicks. Then a few more. Then a few died. Then we bought a few more. Then a few turned out to be roosters and had to go.

You get the idea.

All told, we purchased 9 chicks. Of those 9, there are currently 4 hens in my backyard, laying eggs nearly daily. We have been patiently waiting for Chick Season at our local grange so we could expand our flock a little bit. (I think our end goal is to supply my immediate family with healthy, fresh eggs in the summer. That MUST be our goal. I mean, we are getting 2-4 eggs a day, and have plans to expand the flock! My family will probably take eggs, assuming they can get over the weirdness of us harvesting eggs out of the backyard like they harvest tomatoes and beans from their gardens. Only our "harvest" comes with a side of fertilizer a bit fresher than theirs.)

Anyhow, we picked up the first batch of new chicks last week. They are so cute. So, so stinkin' cute. The little brown girl is an Ameraucana, and will lay blue or green eggs. She is our second attempt at an Ameraucana. They last one, Miss Amerauca, turned out to be Mr. 'Merica, with the attitude to go with it. He mauled one of the smaller babies, and tore feathers out of his broodmates if he didn't like the way they were standing. (He ended up in a friend's stewpot. Let THAT be a lesson to you! Nobody wants a mean rooster around, ya know?)

The two little yellow ones have faintly different markings. The one that is pure yellow will end up snow white. She is a White Leghorn. The other will be white with a few grey markings around her neck. She is a Delaware.