crazy chicken lady
I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m becoming. I stayed home from work yesterday to make sure the chicks got all settled in and were eating and drinking like they should. This morning they still looked good. I’m starting to see some personalities developing. Like this little chickie (ok, it may not be the exact same one every time, but it’s definitely just the Araucanas), who looks up at me every time I peer over the edge of the washtub:
Look at those fuzzy cheeks! The Araucanas all seem to have them, but none of the other breeds do.
Watching them all is better than television, and I spent most of yesterday sitting on the floor next to them doing just that. Naptime is fun. Some of them cuddle up together while others just sort of sink down wherever they happen to be. More than once did I watch a chick with it’s beak in the waterer slowly collapse at the knees with her little head sliding down the side of the watering platform. It’s so quiet when they all manage to get to sleep at the same time:
I lined the bottom of their washtub with newspaper, and the corners of the paper stick up a little from underneath the wood shavings. This provides them with no end of entertainment. They like to peck at it and grab at it and step on it so that it folds down.
Here is a view of their whole domain:
I’ve got a big box waiting in the wings, because I think the washtub will be a little too small by next week. They’ve emptied their feeder twice already, I think I better go get a giant bag of chick feed this weekend! I think I might have the best and smartest chicks in the whole world!
Yeah, I am becoming crazy chicken lady.
Those little peepers are so cute! Have the dogs seen them yet?
I love this post and that cute baby araucana. You sound like such a proud mama. I remember my first chicks, Frannie & Lola. I thought I wouldn’t love them as much when they lost their fluff when they were teenager chickens, but I did. They’re great at all ages. Keep them inside as long as you can and hold them a lot. You’ll socialize them and have lap chickens. 🙂
These photos make me wish I had gotten MY girls as 1 day oldsters! They are SO sweet looking! Isn’t it amazing how quickly they grow up? I just posted today on my 10 girls. Should be getting eggs any time now, however…. with our days getting shorter, we need to put in a bulb with a timer in the hen house to assure the girls get 14 hours of daylight. Without it, I will not get eggs till spring! (sad face) I DO believe you are now an official member of “The Crazy Chicken Ladies Club”!!!
Sweet! 🙂
I just love baby chicks! I can’t wait to see how they grow… and what their final plummage will look like. We’ve been trying to figure out how to cram a coop into our back yard. So far, we haven’t found the space.
Lori
OH ! Memories. I’m also a crazy chicken lady and became a crazy whatever-else-will-hatch lady when we bought a large incubator. It was so wonderful! Our girls were young then and named most of the chicks.. One in particular loved to leap up into their arms.. Her name was Mathilda.. Problem was as ‘she’ grew, we realized she was Matthew instead and became very large and STILL wanted to be in their arms. Neither of our girls turned out to be crazy chicken ladies. I love what you’ve written. I found this through your flickr photos.
These photographs are great. Brings back memories of when we hand raised 3 Bantam chicks. Hoping to get some more chickens soon via a battery hen rescue – more info on my blog.
I love those babies! Congratulations..!
I want chickens so bad and made my wife promise up and show when we get a house- I get chickens! These guys are ubber adorable.