Chickens, Part Two The Girls Have Arrived!

This past weekend, we brought home four new chicks - Plymouth Barred Rocks:

(The color is a little off since we have a red heat lamp in their box and it's hard to correct.)

They are pretty cute and don't seem too anxious around people. This one even sat still for a quick photo shoot:

 

JD worked on the henhouse over the weekend. Henry helped.

And on Wednesday morning after JD got off work, he stopped at Burns Feed Store and picked up the rest of the girls: four Wyandottes and four Rhode Island Reds.

Well, we are hoping they are girls. My only real requirement for this operation was that there be no chance of fertilized eggs, and therefore no roosters allowed. We paid a little more for pullets rather than the less expensive straight run. The woman at the feed store told us we could count on 90% females. I told JD that if we do end up with males, one day while I'm at work, they'll have to somehow go to live on a farm with bunny rabbits to play with. Or maybe they'll run away to join the circus. I'm sorry and as a rule adamantly opposed to killing animals but I can't hang with the fertilized egg thing.

I'm still not sure how you tell on a chicken but a friend who sell his chickens' egg (and said we could count on more like 75% females) said their behavior would be the best indicator. Basically they'll start strutting around and acting foolish - kind of like typical teenaged boys. I think it will be a several months before the females get old enough to lay eggs so I'm hoping it will be apparent long before that.

Until then, we'll get their coop built and their yard in place and keep our fingers crossed. I actually petted on briefly today. JD picked up one of the RIRs up and held it until it calmed down. I was able to pet it with one finger for a few seconds. They are pretty fuzzy still and it felt more like fur than feathers. I'm not sure if I'll ever be at the point where one can sit on my shoulder [Kat, I'm talking to you! :-) ] but it's progress!