fluffandbramble

[fluffandbramble]

Every time there is sudden loud peeping we are like WHAT IS IT ARE YOU OKAY and it’s always either

1.) food is exciting! or

2.) I hopped to the top of the heating plate, so I am the Tallest and Mightiest Chick! Hear my majestic dinosaur roar! There’s a 10% chance I’m a baby rooster!

[fluffandbramble]

Today, we brought home 6 day-old chicks to start our chicken flock.

[Image description: a travel box for chicks with air holes and a handle. On the side it reads “Handle with care” and “Ready, set, PEEP” with a picture of a little chick. The box is almost exactly the shape of a McDonald’s take-out box.]

[Image description: a recently hatched chick being weighed so we can track how she grows. The scale reads 1.30 ounces. This is the Brahma breed, so she has fluffy feathers all down her legs and a few on her toes.]

[Image description: 5 Barred Rock chicks and a Dark Brahma chick settling into their new home and starting to figure out how to eat.]

[fluffandbramble]

We’re getting chickens!

We’ve pre-ordered chicks from two different places because the first was out of one of the breeds we wanted. We’re looking for cold-hardy chickens, who are good egg layers and have a friendly temperament. We have ordered five Barred Rocks, one Dark Brahma, and four Easter Eggers for a total of 10 chicks. The Barred Rocks and Brahma will lay brown eggs, while Easter Eggers should lay blue/green eggs, although it depends on the bird.

They should look something like these photos when fully grown.

[Image description: a flock of Barred Rock chickens, one rooster and two hens. This breed is speckled black and white with red combs.]

The Brahma will grow to be a bit larger than a typical chicken but we got the Standard size rather than the Giant variant of internet fame: https://imgur.com/gallery/e1ZtFJ4.

[Image description: Two light Brahma chickens, one Standard sized and one Giant with the fluffiest toe feathers.]

[Image description: A female Dark Brahma with darker feathers throughout and less white than the Light Brahma variation, still with the fluffiest toe feathers.]

[Image description: Three Easter Egger chickens. They are all different colors and sizes as the breed is focused on the egg color rather than other physical characteristics.]

[Image description: a pile of blue and green eggs laid by Easter Egger chickens.]