The fun never stops

Early this morning I had a phone call from the post office. Our chicks had been delivered!

To recap, these are the chicks I ordered when eggs cost more than bacon and our hens didn't seem to be laying sufficiently... or at all. I don't think they had started up again at this point. Because I wasn't the only one reacting to high egg prices, finding layers as day old chicks was proving difficult. The best I could find was a hatch date in July. It wasn't ideal, but we could brood them outside because it would be warm. And, if chicks were such a rare commodity, I should get a few. So I ordered fifteen because it was a good deal if you ordered that many and didn't care what type of hen you got. 

Well, our hens have been laying well. Egg prices have gone down. And now I have 17 new chicks. Yes, they threw in a couple of extra. 

In the box they arrived in. I think they were glad for the water once I got them home. They are pretty cute.

We temporarily moved them into a larger box which spent the day in.... the kitchen. Yes, I know I said I'd never have chicks in the kitchen again. But it was temporary.

We did need to protect them from the cats. Enter the ever useful baby pen panel. (I had no idea when I bought this when G. and L. were babies exactly how useful it would be even after we stopped using it as an actual baby pen.)

We couldn't move them out to the little mini coop until we did a little work on it. And by “we”, as is the case so often, what I actually mean is J.

The coop was made habitable and secure for the chicks, so I moved them out this afternoon.

I think we have at least five different varieties based on how the chicks look. Some colors we've had before, but we've never had little brown ones. I'm very curious as to how they end up looking. But, I'm also crossing my fingers that we don't end up with any roosters. One rooster is quite sufficient, and while Fluffy is a pretty chill rooster, I'm not sure how he'd take to a younger interloper.