This past spring we started another installment of chicks. We've been living with my parents and three young siblings since last summer, and their remaining five chickens are two years old now and not laying as regularly anymore. So we knew it was time for the next installment.
So, about the middle of March I went to a couple local feed stores and bought 13 one-day-old chicks. That way, when we move to our own place we can take six and leave my parents six. (I was supposed to buy 12 and somehow miscounted, but as it turned out, that was a good thing, as I will relate later.)
It was really fun to pick out so many of the cute, fuzzy little things, and especially to choose kinds we'd never had before, in addition to the Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds we're used to.
The cutest of the bunch is a tiny Bantam, which my little brother named Chipanee. We don't know what kind of Bantam she is, but she's about a third the size of the other chicks.
The others have grown up way too fast, as is normal, but Chipanee seems to just stay young and cute.
My mom has had the Barred Plymouth Rock breed for a couple years, but this is my first time with them. (The closest we came last time (in appearance) was our pretty Laced Wyandotte.)
A couple years ago when we got our start with chicks, my oldest daughter really wanted a breed that laid "Easter eggs." Unfortunately, our local feed stores at that time didn't have any (they sold too fast), so we didn't get one. But this time we got three Americaunas: two for our family and one for my parents. I didn't know the hens came in different colors; the white one is supposed to be the same breed as the dark one.
The last "new" breed I got was a Sex-Link. Not very attractive at this stage, to say the least! But she is growing into herself now (these pictures are about a month old) and looking better, and she's proving herself a sweetheart.
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