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.

Picking up the Chicks - Or not...

Today Lisanne, Izzie, August and I headed up to Dodge Grain in New Hampshire. We were so excited to see the chicks in their brooders and relieved that the chicks we had reserved - Ameracauna, Crested Polish and Buff Orpingtons were together and separate with a big "SOLD" tag.



They also got a shipment of California White Leghorns, shown here pecking at their food.



The happy crew inspects our family's quarters - looks good!

The only problem is that the Rhode Island Red still haven't arrived. Jim was very accommodating and said that he would be willing to hold the other chicks until they showed up. In New Hampshire it is state law that you buy 12 chicks at one time. No paying for 15 and picking up 12 + 3. You have to buy 12 chicks and leave with 12 chicks every time. Arrggghhh.

We were relieved that he had taken such good care of our chicks, but definitely disappointed that we couldn't bring them home. Thursday or Friday...

A Trip to the Salvage Yard

We went down to Rhode Island this weekend to pow-wow with my dad and make some serious coop headway. After reviewing all the emails that I had received regarding coop construction, and visiting Terry Golson's coop, we revised our design.

One consistent piece of advice (courtesy of the Carlisle Chicken Group, Carlisle being the next town over) was to make the coop bigger than we thought we needed. This was recommended a) because we would soon become obsessed with chickens and want more than 10 and b) because of the hard winter here, it's nice to give them a little extra indoor space.

So we revised the design. Instead of 6'x4', it will now be 6'x8', with two basement windows to give it some light.



And based on the very important knowledge gleaned from my visit to Terry's, we're going to cut through the existing shed's window and replace it with a screen door. That way we can store all the chicken paraphernalia in the shed. This also eliminates the need for a door on the outside of the new structure, which I like.




Tim and I headed to New England Demolition and Salvage in New Bedford, MA on Saturday to try and find some attractive salvage windows for the coop (sorry Terry, you had so many good ideas). This place can be cool, and it can be a nightmare. The people working there are decidedly unhelpful and it doesn't really seem like they want to sell anything (although I find this typical of many antique dealers). However, if you find good stuff, it's worth it.



Here Tim shows off our narrowed-down selection of screen doors.



Here he is with the door of choice ($35)... and the windows.



I originally picked some Victorian sidelights for the windows that were very sweet, but the gentleman wanted $100/each for them. My chickens are not going to be that snobby. I picked up these vintage storms for $20/each. They need a little love, but they're solid.

When you see a SEA of salvage house parts, it's a little depressing. All those homes... in pieces. It's a bit shocking that there are so many usable pieces for home building out there and yet we all go to Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. just because it's easier. Now granted, it IS easier. But I do love the hunt, AND we're recycling :)