"Temporary Insanity"... or "What Was I Thinking When I Said Yes To These Babies?"

[gcvmom]

In the aftermath of Herbert's premature demise, PC was insistent that we run out right away and get a new chicken to help take our minds off the pain of losing our beloved bird.

I agreed to call the local feed store to find out if they have any chicks. Nope, they don't get them in until Spring.

I could have left it at that. I could have hung up right then and there and gone on with my mourning and my chicken-less life.

But NO.

The guy on the other end of the phone tells me to try another shop a few towns over because they often have chicks. So what do I do? I CALL.

"Oh YES! We have LOTS of chicks!" the clerk tells me over the phone. So silly me relays this info to DH, who then tells me to go ahead and get one for EACH KID.

THREE CHICKS?

Oh he!!, why not.

So the kids are over the moon about it and we drive over to the feed store in the next town after school that day. We've got the cat crate to carry them home in and a 10 gallon aquarium with a heat lamp to house them in until they outgrow it (which should take about a day).

The shop owner shows us her bin-'o-chicks: feather-footed Bantams (I think), Rhode Island Reds, Black Giants, and a few others she didn't really know for sure of the breeding. So the kids pick out two Reds and one Black -- they're the cutest little balls of fluff I've ever seen. The shop owner says they're about a week old, and she said that 90% of the breeds we picked from the bin are usually hens.

Then she drops the big bomb on me. "You're getting THREE? -- Oh NO, that just won't do. You CAN'T get an odd number! They like to pair up and if you get three, the odd one will get picked on all the time. You'd better get one more!"

So now we have not ONE replacement for Herbert, but FOUR!

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u143/jmamendola/Fall2008087.jpg

Mine is the smallest, a little black and white chick that looks more like a penguin with chicken legs... not sure what the breed is. I named her Minerva Louise after the children's story. Gfg1's chick is the smaller of the two Red's with a dark tipped beak. He named her Torchick after a Pokemon. Gfg2's is the other black one with black legs and he calls her Coco. PC's is the other Red and the largest. She calls her Butterscotch.

The kids all understand that if any turn out to be roosters, we'll have to take them back or find homes for them (supposedly the shop owner will let us trade back).

DH is working on an enclosed run for them. As quaint as it was to have Herbert roam freely, we've learned our sad lesson that it just is not worth the risk where we live.

I hope this wasn't a mistake. Four times the food. Four times the poop.

One thing's for certain... if we got the gender right, we'll have plenty of eggs for Easter!

[witzend]

Hey, with all of the interest in organic home gardening, you could sell that chicken poop as fertilizer!

They're pretty cute! Hopefully, there's no roosters. I've seen pm TV where the chicken farmers "sex" the chicks. Is that something the feed store couldn't do?

[house of cards]

Little balls of fluff...so cute.

[Marcie Mac]

I want one - unfortunately the dogs would want one too..

When I was little, every year the 5 & 10 cent store would sell colored baby chicks and ducklings at easter. I remember one year my brother and I started nagging, and were told not this year and we cried we would have no baby chicks. My dad went out and bought three, and so did my mother (unbeknownst to each other).

I brought them indoors as it was raining out and they were in a box in the kitchen. My brother calls me and says look - the chickens were now in the living room, perched on the sofa looking down at my mother who had taken a nap. They were so curious looking at her eyes that were moving during a deep sleep. My brother did a sharp intake of breath as they leaned over to peck her eyes. Neither one of us moved - much too petrified..

I just remember chickens flying - and that was the last easter we got them LOL

Marcie

[Lothlorien]

Sooooo cute....how come you want to trade if it's a rooster? The noise?

Well, you'll never go hungry with plenty of eggs.

Better get a big dog too, to make sure that hawk doesn't get the chicks. Or you could keep them in pen with netting so the hawk doesn't get them. So, what are the names?

[KTMom91]

They're so cute!

[Star*]

Plenty O eggs
Plenty O poop

You lost your sanity
Time for a coop!

Sooooo cute....OMG here chickey chicky.....

[gcvmom]

I've seen pm TV where the chicken farmers "sex" the chicks. Is that something the feed store couldn't do?

Supposedly you hold them in your hand, squeeze their back end a bit and peer into their teeny exit hole to look for signs of a "bump" or "process" which usually indicates a rooster... with the caveat that in some breeds, females also posess a slightly smaller bump. I guess you get good at doing this after a million or so chicks squeezed... With my luck, the poor little thing would pop first before giving up it's sexual identity...

[gcvmom]

When I was little, every year the 5 & 10 cent store would sell colored baby chicks and ducklings at easter.

Can you imagine dipping those poor little things in the dye? I thought you were supposed to color the eggs BEFORE they hatched!

Your poor mother... I would have hurled those chickens, too!

[Star*]

Please dont' squeeze the Charmin! Or the other chickeys.....