Warning: Cute, Baby Chickens Ahead

Back in the middle of January, my dear friend over at Self Proclaimed Happy handed us the keys to to a bright future filled with eggs, eggs, eggs.  Yes, she had given us two fistfulls of chickens, and we were on our way to chicken craziness.  They have been fun... Entertaining... Cute...

Eggless.

Unfortunately, the majority of our new feathery flock are too young for egg laying.  Knowing it will be soon, we stare instead at the one mature hen in the bunch.  She smugly returns the stare and keeps her eggs on back order.

Meanwhile, we were convinced by my same dear friend that incubating some eggs would be the perfect way to pass the time.  I agreed, not knowing that our chicken craziness was about to ramp up to a whole new level.

Enter, the babies:

This is Number One.  Hatched first, from a brown egg, this chicky is bossy and learns everything first just to show off in front of everyone else. 

Just to be fair, they were all late at hatching.  Given the correct conditions, it should take 21 days.  This first baby didn't enter the world until Friday evening, February 15th--at 23 days.

This is Number Two.  Mostly black, with a yellow belly and a white wing feather, this baby came from a white egg.  Extra fluffy and extra cute.  Hatched the same night as Number One, a few hours later.

This is Number Three.  Hatched from a white egg, baby Three looks a little like a chipmunk from behind.  Number Two had just escaped the egg minutes before and helped this one along from the beginning.  If you haven't seen the video yet, don't.  You might end up with pet chickens like me.

Number Four, chatting with Number One, using Number Two as a pillow.

After that, Number Four came in the middle of the night.  We awoke the next day to an extra chick flopping around in the incubator.  The poor little guy really was floppier than normal though.  He had a leg problem and couldn't walk.  I did my best at researching the problem.  I taped his legs and toes with various methods, but I cringed at the thought of the girls getting too attached to a chick that might not make it.  In the end, we decided to bring him to the St. Francis animal rescue where he will be rehabilitated and adopted :-)

Number Five.  Hatched on Saturday from a white egg. Totally mellow, fluffy, and sweet.  Has an overall coppery glow, which has led us to begin calling her Penny.  Hopefully she's a she, or we will have an awkwardly named rooster.  (Meanwhile, we continue to tell the kids we can't name them.  Do as we say, kids, not as we do!)

Number Six. Hatched late Saturday night from a brown egg--day 25--this baby needed a little bit of help to get out of that crusty old egg.  She'd been stuck for nearly the whole day at being partially hatched, so I used some tweezers to "unzip" her the rest of the way.  Then, Noodle, Hopers, their two friends and I all watched as she struggled her way into the open.  Number Six doesn't let her "last hatched" status keep her down.  She's the loudest, doesn't care much for Number One's bossy attitude, and thinks I have chicken nuggets in mind every time I pick her up.  But, she has feathers on her feet, so that makes her cool.


So, in the space of a few days, we went from this:



 

 

 

 

 

To this: 

To this:

To this:

Come over and visit them at your own peril.  I don't recommend looking closely at them.  I really don't recommend picking them up, either.  If you do, you might become just like us....

Chicken Crazy.