Authentic Compassion

Saturday, March 28, 2009

No chicks were harmed in the making of this blog post

As a bitter cold front was blowing in from the west (such timing huh?) we went to the feed store and picked up eight chicks constituting our new poultry endeavor. IF all eight survive and are definitely hens----long digression here --guy at feed store kept telling me only 90% guarantee of pullets - but these are sex linked chickens and the males are a different color at hatch - doesn't matter says he - only guarantee 90% will be hens - alrighty then back to our story. IF they meet the above mentioned requirements - in 4 or 5 months we should be getting a minimum of 28 eggs a week. Woo Hoo!They are peeping,pooing and generally making a royal mess in the small bathroom off our laundry room. We were going to start chicks in nice enclosure we put in our new coop but temps were dropping so drastically we chose to keep them in the house until spring returns. (according to the weather gurus that'll be late Sunday afternoon).
I'm big lately on better safe than - well better safe than most anything else I guess. No shark feeding,bull fighting, base jumping, sky divers in this household - life has enough challenges if you do it right!

The weird colored picture is the chicks ensconced in their temporary home with a red heat lamp.




No little peepers were injured when Conan decided to check the chicks. After sniffing and licking - he moved smoothly on to teeth closing over a chick but responded instantly to a Drop It command. Poor fellow - he thought we'd provided animated new toys!
No doubt I'll do more pictures of the peepers - I'm grateful for new lives and potential here on Buhlaland - oh yeah - and I'm really grateful for a recently refilled propane tank 'cause it is COLD here today! The cold weather won't last long but feels all the more painful after recent lovely days. This too shall pass (kind of like a kidney stone at the moment - painful in the process but OH how nice it will feel once it's gone!) It is still very good on Buhlaland - peep peep peeeeeeeppppp.










9 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh, Linda, they are so sweet...I can imagine them peeping and enjoying the warmth...will be following your adventure closely as if things go our way this year and we are able to refi the house, I will definitely be going forward with hens here...

marcy said...

Oh, how i love baby animals and they are so cute. My puppy dog would do the same (try to play with them and think they were specialized toys). Sorry to hear about the heartworm issue with your new dog, esp. since they could have prevented it for you (will say a prayer for that cute little dog).
blessings,
marcy

LindaSue said...

Dani - the chicks are just peeping and seem to be doing fine. My laundry room bathroom smells a tad ripe but we are moving them out to the coop tomorrow afternoon yippee!
Marcy - thankyou so much for stopping by - yep - baby anythings are high on the cuteness scale. So far Zoe is doing OK - she is now on heartworm preventative for 3 months until big hospitalization and highly expensive treatments begin. So we are having fun with her - she likes us - she really likes us!

Lanny said...

Oh fuzzy cuddly chicks. I love fuzzy cuddly chicks! Yes, a few days of a odd smell in the back room is worth not having frozen peeps, or running out in the cold to check on them. The smell goes away! Yeah baby chicks!!!

KathyB. said...

The smell of raising chicks inside is forgotten once they are moved outside and especially when they begin laying eggs.Chickens have brought so much fun, entertainment, and so many eggs to our family....and I NEVER tire of gathering eggs, like an Easter egg hunt every day for me.

Tell me about the weather. We have SNOW tonight . 2 inches of snow still on the ground and trees! And here I was, thinking about planting seedlings...

LindaSue said...

Lanny - the good thing is - that is the area I was planning on painting in the very near (like next two weeks) future so the smell will be banished by fresh paint smell. a big YEP about not running out there to check on them. Supposed to be 71 this afternoon and low in 50's tonight - hooray! Sorry about your snow - we saw a few flakes very early yesterday. I lost a couple of squash plants (easily replaced) and cannot tell about all the tomatoes - biggest concern was my teeny tiny peach tree - would love to have a peach from it this year! KathyB I'm really looking forward to egg gathering - will be a trip down memory lane (50 years ago!)when I would stay at grandparents' place near Cleburne Texas and go gather eggs for our breakfasts.

Sophie said...

They are so very sweet! Makes me want some :)

Lolosblog said...

I am just now getting to catch up on post from the weekends, but oh, how I know what you are talking about on the cold weather!!! I was so cold all day Saturday!

Love the chicks and can't wait to watch them grow through your pictures. Hope spring is back in Texas soon.

Brandi

Paula said...

YAY!!! *JUMPING UP AND DOWN*
You finally have chickies at Buhlaland!!

That is too funny about Conan- maybe he just thought they were the marshmellow peeps....
(yeah, right!)