New arrivals!

Guess who's here!!! Our one-day-old chicks arrived in the mail today. They literally arrived in a cardboard box with air holes, cheeping madly. Here's a picture of them in their basket:

There are five (there's one hiding in the corner) and they're all different: Speckled Sussex, Goldenlaced, Leghorn, Silverlaced, and New Hampshire Red. We really can't tell who's who at this point except that the yellow one is the New Hampshire Red.

(above) This one Scott named McNugget

The post lady arrived with the box, looking REALLY confused. It's not every day that a cheeping package arrives at the Dimond Post Office with live chickens inside. The reason they can ship them in the mail is that after they've eaten themselves out of the egg they are very full and they don't need to eat for a day or two. We immediately took them inside and put them in the bathroom, which is always the hottest room in the house (if you've never taken a shower next to baby chicks, it's a great experience), and gave them food and water.

We couldn't tear ourselves away from them! They are SOOO small that all five of them are about the size of one of our other teenage chicks. I even took them in the car to go to my chiropractic appointment and Scott and my mom played with them while Kenda was adjusting me (she felt their spines and made sure that there weren't any problems).

We're not sure how long we need to keep them separated from the others, but we don't want to keep them apart for too long or we're scared that they'll fight with each other. The other babies have graduated and are now in the coop. We turn on a heat lamp at night because their feathers aren't all the way grown in. They seem happy to be out there and to have room to fly around. During the day if we're home we put them in their portable coop so that they can eat bugs and things.

I can feel that we're getting closer to getting goats. My parents have decided where we're putting the pen, and sometimes I go outside to find my father sitting on a bench in the future goat pen making milking motions with his hands. It's a little frightening. They're going to have an open walking area and a sheltered "dormitory" with raised beds with rubber mats to sleep on. My dad's been scoping out other goat situations to get ideas. I'm so excited! Indigoat Farms is really starting up.