Nesting

The baby chicks were due to hatch and ship today - which means sometime between now and Thursday four little fuzzy chicks will arrive! That means I have to get ready! I have been reasearching all I can on baby chicks, checking off lists and making sure I have all the right supplies on hand - it reminds me of the nesting period I went through just before I had my children - only this time "nesting" is a little more literal than it was before!

I ordered three Easter Eggers (EEs) and one Silver Cuckoo Maran - all pullets (female chickens for those new to the lingo like me). From what I have read, the EEs will lay either blue, green, pale brown or pale pinkish eggs - each hen only lays one color egg so you never really know what color eggs you will get until they start laying - so hopefully we will get at least a few green and blue layers. Marans lay dark "chocolate" brown eggs - but the pictures I have seen seem to range from typical looking brown eggs to very dark (yup - they are pretty close to milk chocolate) eggs. Eggs are a long way down the road though so we will have to wait and see when the time comes. I have read that hens don't start laying regularly until they reach 24-26 weeks and don't really reach full production until they are 30 weeks old - so we will have to wait until the end of the summer to know what kinds of eggs we will get.

I have a brooder area all set up for the new arrivals and I have my fingers crossed that they make the journey safely so the kids and I can start our journey with them! Fuzzy chick pics coming soon!