So this is love

We are absolutely loving our chicken experience. Here is the blow by blow so far :o)

The chicks arrived on a Tuesday.

Each of the older children has their own chicken which they picked from the http://www.mypetchicken.com/ website. We did the questionnaire on the website matches chicken breeds to your situation. We ordered 4 chicks total and each chick owner named their own chick. A huge portion of the bickering, meltdowns, and power struggles has ended. I took away a LARGE bunch of toys (the usual fight causing ones) and the children are blissfully happy with their new united purpose. The only care about their own chicks but they have the chickens in common. Nobody wants to hold anybody else's so the there aren't any power struggles or fights. We should have between 18-24 eggs a week when the laying starts.

Yellow Chick - California White (cross between a white leghorn and a California Grey) Will lay white eggs average 6/week. Name "Lulu"

Brown/Grey chick - Easter Egger

Will lay wither Blue, Green, or light pink (unlikely) eggs average 6/week.

Name "Princess"

Brown chick - Welsummer. Will lay med brown eggs with drk brown speckles average 4/week. Name "Lady Windsor"

Black Chick- Australorp. Will lay light brown eggs. Average 6/week. Name "Big Z"

It's been about 3 weeks now and boy have these little girls grown! The novelty hasn't worn off and the children (and I) just love it. I never thought I would feel like I loved a chicken but I do.

Every Monday we take a picture of each chick and weigh them to keep track of their growth. We love the Eglu that we bought and the children have their lawn chairs set up in a row to watch chicks during the day. They sit and narrate what they believe the chickens must be saying. It's all very cute.

We look forward to our first eggs which should arrive late Sep or early Oct. I think I will blow out each chickens first egg to keep. More updates to come :o)