The New Chicks

On Tuesday I got a call from the Post Office.  The chicks had arrived!   I went and got them….you could hear the little peeps from inside the box for the entire car ride.   When I got home I opened the box.

And there they were.  A box of cuteness.  

I put them in the brooder box with the infrared light.  They need it to be between 90-95F for the first few days.  I made sure everyone had a drink and some food.  You can see there is a feather duster (surrogate Mother hen) in the corner.

They soon discovered it and love snuggling there.

Though they are very busy exploring the food and water as well.

I leaned a mirror on the outside of the box..they love watching those “other” chicks.

They now all have names.

This is Marigold.  She is a Buff Orpington…like Amber was.  She is  #1 at the moment.  She is also the biggest…but only by a little.

This is Hermione.  She is a Golden laced Wyandotte…like Maeve was.  She will be very beautiful and I had planned to name her for someone beautiful, but she is a bossy little thing.  Always bothering everyone….trying to run the show..so she ended up Hermione.  She is #2 at the moment, but she would like to be in charge.  We shall see.

This is Jasmine.  She is an Easter Egger and will lay pink or blue eggs eventually.  She is very curious and willing to try new things.  I think she is #3.

This is Rowena.  She is a Rhode Island Red, like Brianna was.  She is very sweet and likes everyone.  While Brianna was #1 from the first moment, Rowena is not….that might change, but at the moment she is more interested in just being friends with everyone.This is Keara.  She is and Australorp.  I have never had one of them before.  It is the Australian version of an Orpington.  She will be black and lay brown eggs.  They are supposed to be very friendly.  She is also very sweet…

This is Lucinda.  She is a Barred Plymouth Rock, like Prudence is.  She is also very sweet, sleeps a lot and loves the feather duster.  She is often with Keara.

 

This is Blossom.  She is also an Easter Egger and will lay blue or pink eggs.  She is already my favorite.  Like Beatrix, she is the the bottom of the pecking order.  She learns very slowly…it took her awhile to figure out drinking and eating and she was less stable on her feet.  She loves everyone and interestingly follows Hermione around a lot.  Perhaps she likes being told what to do.  She also likes to be with Jasmine.

So there they are.  They are such an interesting little flock.  I just love watching them together.  It will be a few weeks before they can go up to Cluckinham Palace and meet Beatrix and Prudence.   For now they will stay in the house.

As you can imagine, Merlin is NOT pleased!He has moved back upstairs from the cellar and has settled in the bedroom closet (with Coco of course). He was just getting used to the idea of Fiona when these new chicks arrived!!!

We have put a baby gate up so Fiona can’t bother him.  He comes out from time to time to see if she is still there….so hard to be Merlin at the moment.

Fiona just wishes he would play with her!!!  

And so life goes on at Brookwood Shire.  It should be an interesting few weeks.