Our Chicks are Here!!!!!!!

We are beyond excited. I went up to Dodge Grain again with August today to pick up our chicks. I had lots of things planned... but I had to cancel them. I couldn't wait until Friday. Many many thanks to Jim for all the help in planning for our chicks' arrival, and for holding the breeds that we wanted.

I loved hearing them chirp from their box on the drive home. Cheep cheep cheep - they made me SO happy.



Someone "stole" two of our Ameracaunas last night, so we had a little bit of a switcheroo. Our final count was:
(5) Buff Orpington
(5) Crested Polish - White Crested Black (you can see the black birds with the hysterical white pom pom on their heads)
(4) Rhode Island Red
(3) Ameracauna

Lisanne is taking 5 and I will have 12...



Lisanne transports the chicks from their box to the brooder, and shows Izzie and August how to care for them gently.



This is a terrible photo, but here are the chicks in their new home! You can see the Crested Polish in the middle - ridiculously cute.

Building The Brooder

We set out last weekend to build the chick house or the Chick Inn as my husband likes to refer to it. The humble abode that our babies will call home for the first five weeks of their lives.

We contemplated buying a traditional wire cage brooder (see photo). But opted instead to construct our own. Infinitely more fun and customizable. Plus we already had the lumber necessary on hand left over from a prior "build our own office desks" project.

Traditional Wire Cage Brooder













The Team Departs


















Our first stop was the local lumber yard --Concord Lumber, where we searched for fine gauge wire for the top and bottom of the brooder. Something large enough to allow all of the chicken droppings (apparently abundant) to fall through, but small enough that their little feet will not get stuck.

To Home Depot - for a piece of plexiglass for the front.














While Fred started in on the construction, Isabelle and I headed indoors to test out Terry Golson's Challah recipe from her publication The Farmstead Egg Cookbook.

Fred Hard at Work



















Isabelle Hard at Work

SUCCESS

The bread was AMAZING and the brooder looks great. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our chicks and ultimately our very own eggs so we can try out the Challah bread recipe with fresh Monument Street Coop eggs.