First Chick Order of 09

I got a phone call from a friend today. I had to answer the big question; how many of what kind do I want...I'd been thinking it over, but thinking and signing on the dotted line are two different things. I committed to ten Welsummer chicks and ten Ameraucana chicks from Whitmore Farm. You can check them out at www.whitmorefarm.com The eggs that the Welsummers and the Marans lay are absolutely gorgeous. I am going in on an order with a few other folks and I'm at the top of the list to pick them up from the airport post office. Not only that, but my fellow chicken addicts need the chicks as soon as possible because they are wanting to show them this summer, so they've requested the birds come in next week! Yikes! Here we go!

Well, what else did I get myself into today. Oh, I volunteered Dustin to try and fix a friend's incubator and in return she is bringing it by along with a second incubator that works for sure. Did I mention that each of these incubators holds up to a hundred and fifty eggs. Way out of our league I know. I think we may be hatching some of her eggs along with our own. If we get a broody hen we are going to stick some eggs under her, but as of now we are accumulating eggs for hatching with no prospective mothers.

I'm feeling rather extravagant after the chick order today. Not quite as guilty though as if I'd bought something ridiculous or useless. I feel the same way when I order a few hundred dollers worth of vegetable seeds...it's kind of like buying healthy food for a reasonable price, but it is more of an investment and an insurance policy at the same time. Here are some pictures of our eggs. We got five eggs today. We've really been getting some whoppers. So big that sometimes the carton won't close. The blue eggs are out of the Ameraucanas. There are some smaller darker brown ones next to the blue eggs that I think are out of Honey, our Cochin. We've been a little uncertain about which eggs the Brahmas are laying, I think they might be the lighter beige ones on the right side, but I'm not sure. The Sexlinks are laying most of the nice big pinkish brown eggs, including the one I'm holding- I think.