♪ The Chicks are Here ♪

A sure sign of Spring is the appearance of cute baby animals. Our farm is no exception!

These chicks are a variety called Barred Rock. They will be grey striped chickens when they get older, including having strikingly pretty red combs. We had one chicken like this years ago, and I remember her fondly. I'm excited we now have 6 chickens of the same type. She was a good egg layer, although sometimes she picked a spot under a wood pile to put her treasure. Maybe it was because the other chickens picked on her, who knows.

These chicks came to us very young, only 2 days old. They need to have a heat lamp over their pen so that they stay warm enough as they grow. We try to talk to them and pick them up daily, so they get used to our voices and our hands coming near. That makes gathering eggs later much more pleasant for everyone involved.

By the Fall we should start getting eggs from these chicks. If all goes well, happy chickens usually lay one egg per day. I can't wait ! It is difficult to have to buy eggs once you experience gathering them yourself.