Chickens, Chickens, CHICKENS!

If it was possible to have babies coming out our ears, we'd have 'um coming out our ears! Claudie at the post office called us this morning, bright and early, at 6:45am. Our chicks where in! (Hi Claudie!)

So far, every single one of them is doing GREAT! They all look really healthy, eat well, nap well, and cheep well. That's as good as it gets when you're a baby chicken!

We received all 6 of the Buff Orpington chicks we ordered. They're so small and CUTE! It's amazing that something so small will eventually grown into a 10 pound chicken!

We received 3 of the 4 Red Silkies we ordered. They must have been running short on Red Silkies. In this photo, the Silkies are the ones with the the speckles on their heads (top-middle and far left side).

I think because they were short on Silkies, they sent along 7 (instead of 6 like we ordered) Red Frizzles! Oh my GOODNESS both of these breeds are TINY!! I would imagine they're about as big around as a golf ball. And that includes their fluff, too, and their little bodies are a lot smaller under all of that fluff! But they don' t weigh as much as a golf ball, that's for sure!

Because our order didn't fill an entire quarter-box (25 chicks), the hatchery sent along 7 male Araucana chicks for free to help keep the others warm during shipment. They're BEAUTIFUL!! And they'll grow up to be beautiful roosters (they said these are all roosters). Hope they're friendly roosters, and don't cause too much chaos on the farm. These chicks are at least twice the size - maybe even more - than the other chicks we received. And aren't they handsome in their pin striped fuzz?

Alan helped me get a few close-up photos of each breed we received. The lighting is a bit off due to the natural light from the window, the tungsten light from the room lights, and the red lights over the chicks. But you get the general idea.

This is one of the Red Silkies. Silkies have black-tinted skin, so around their eyes, their beaks/nostrils and their legs are all slightly tinted. They also have 5 toes on each foot. Three toes point out front like normal chickens, and then instead of having one tow that points towards the back, they have two that are very close together.

The light colored tip on this baby's beak is it's egg beak. It's a sharp little cap that grows on the tip of every chick's beak so they can more easlily break out of their egg when it's time to hatch. After a couple of days, the little cap pops off and their beak looks normal.

This is one of the Red Frizzle chicks. They're the smallest of all the chicks we ordered. The hens will grow to be less than 2 pounds when they're full grown. Roosters will weigh right about 2 pounds when their full grown. As they start to get their feathers in, we'll be able to see how many of them will have the true Frizzle-dos. I hope they all do! How fun would that be!!

Like the Silkies, and like Cochins, Frizzle chicks have feathers down the length of their leg and on their outside toe. All those feathers make them look like their wearing pantaloons when you see them from the backside!

This is the smallest of the Araucana chicks we received, also known as Americana's. The coloring on them is wonderful! The dark lines around their eyes are very striking. I had to call the hatchery this morning and ask what kind of chicken they were (since they weren't officially part of our order). It will be fun to see these fellas grow! We got three noticeably different color patterns (you can see them in the group photo above).

The Buff Orpington chicks are a nice creamy yellow color. They don't have any outrageous markings, but they'll grow up to be pretty butterscotch colored hens. They are a clean-legged chicken, so they don't have feathers down their legs or on their toes like the Silkies, Frizzles, and Cochins. What fun it is having them all here! Peep PEEP!!

Oh, and yes, hatcheries ship day-old chicks! Here's a photo of our shipping box. It's about 10x12, and was shipped Priority Mail.

What a fun mail day!

Comments

[Pennie McCallum]

These are so darn cute! Thanks for sharing.

[Lauri]

So cute! I love love love chickens!!!!

[Lisa]

Thank you so much for sharing and for giving us a lesson in chicks! How cute!!

[diane M]

Thank you to you and Alan for the photos, and for the information. It's been very interesting!!

[Jen Daloisio]

oh my gosh, how cute are they?
I had NO idea you could order live animals through the mail- how funny is that?? Thanks so much for sharing all the info and the beautiful pictures!

[Tracye]

Thank you for sharing these beautiful little baby chickens with us. I'm fascinated with all the detail you provide and am amazed that even though I'm not a "farm girl"...I can't wait to learn more about your animals. I check your site daily for my new lesson of the day. LOL. Congrats on the babies !!

[Barb Hardeman]

Oh, aren't they just the cutest little things! I bet they're noisey as all get out too! Good thing you don't keep them in the house. Thank you for sharing so much information about them! It's so interesting to learn all about your farm animals. Just think about all those beautiful, healthy eggs you'll get to eat. Farm fresh are just so much better than stale old store bought. We buy farm fresh brown eggs and there is such a difference. I'm pulling for Queenie that she won't have a prolonged delivery like Dixie did.

[Samantha]

They are so PRECIOUS!!! I want one!!! They are just So cute!!!

[Ann Lind]

They are so cute to bad they can't stay little. We had a pair of bantie hens when we were growing up. We dressed them in doll clothes and gave them rides in our buggies. Their names were Beads and Colleen. Colleen used to sit on the raspberry post and crow like a rooster and then go and lay her egg. We loved them dearly. They stayed in the yard(we lived in the city)but they used to go next door and lay their eggs in the neighbors rock garden when she weeded she was always finding eggs.

[diane mcvey]

Oh, I am SO jealous! :D I love your baby chicks, they are adorable! What fun to have so many different colors...awesome! I can't wait to see them at different stages of their life. You have such a great farm! All the critters are just fabulous fun! :D

[Beth]

Anna- Thanks so much for sharing these precious photos of your new farm members. Can't wait to show my girls tomorrow. We home school and I can almost count a visit to your blog as a biology field trip!!!

[Gramma_Dar]

I never knew their were so many different kinds of chickens. I have heard of Bantams.
My mother-in-law used to sex chicks day old. It was a very profitable job until the Japanese came over & started doing it cheaper.
She & her husband used to teach chick sexing in Iowa also...
Thanks for the lesson on chickens.
Love your photos.
Gramma Dar

[lacyquilter]

Anna, they are all just darling.

[Judie C.]

Thank you so much for showing us your babies. All the time I was reading about the new chicks and loving their photos, I kept thinking that I must ask you to show us a photo of the shipping box. Thank you for being way ahead of me and showing it! If you still have it (or some other time), please show us the top of the box (you can blot out the addresses). but I'm just curious about how they mark the box to show it contains live chickens and "this side up" and so forth. I can't imagine shipping day-old chicks! Thanks.

[Kittie Caracciolo]

Those baby chicks are all so adorable. I would just want to be out there picking them up and holding them. I love, love, love the farm updates, Anna.

[janice]

ooohhh they are just little fluff balls of cuteness! thanks for all the close ups and explaining the markings etc... fascinating. i look forward to this blog so much!
thanks!!

[Viv (VivLyn)]

OMG!! Those babies are adorable! They are so cute and cuddly looking! Enjoy them while they are tiny and cute! They look like they'll grow into beautiful chickens!!

[dtstampz]

What a terrific post, and the photos are wonderful. The chicks are so cute--thanks for starting my day off with a smile! :)

[Otter]

Too cute!! My DH works for the USPS. I totally LOL when he said he was staying late because there was a "box of chickens" coming. I didn't believe him!! Thanks for sharing these great photos!

[Sara (sassyat30)]

Anna, those baby chicks are so cute! At the petting farm I work at, we have Frizzles, Silkies, Silver Seabrights and Coachuns.

Last year, we had Aracauna roosters and they were beautiful!

We always tell the kids that the Frizzles look like they stuck their beak in a light socket. *wink*

I love your photos of the babies! One of the nanny goats at the farm just had triplets and they are just adorable!! We're still waiting for some lambs, though. :)

[Sara (sassyat30)]

Hey Anna, the last comment was left by me (Sara sassyat30) NOT otter.

I have no idea how that happened!!!

[SWJC]

omigosh, that Red Frizzle chick looks like a model! better watch out for her. i think she'll be a diva!

don't apologize for the lighting. the photos are great!

don't you think those Americanas look like pheasant chicks? too cute!!

Shala

[Katie]

I am having so much fun reading about your farm. Thanks so much for sharing. The babies are so cute, it gets me excited for spring!

[Michelle Oatman]

Oh now that is a great Mail day! How fun...I wanna come play!!! They are adorable!

[Anne]

OHMYGOSH, aren't these little guys (and girls) just adorable!! I can't wait to see the photos as they mature from chicks to adults. Thanks for the wonderful pictures!