Chicks

SPRING FARM EVENTS:  A couple of weeks ago before my grandchildren went back to Colorado, we took an afternoon to visit the farm store and get a new batch of chicks! Here is a picture of Emma in the barn with a bag of shavings on the floor in front of her. She and I are just getting ready to "carpet" the chicks' new home--a large cardboard box from my husband's employer's new bakery addition. We had gotten the box a week earlier when appliances were being installed in the store where my husband works. The box is deep enough so the chicks can't fly out and big enough to make them comfortable.

 BABY CHICK SPA:  I have a heat lamp attached to a tripod that keeps their temperature just right. Each week as they grow and feather out, the lamp can be moved up on the pole so the heat is less intense. Newly hatched chicks needs temperatures over 90F degrees to be healthy and comfortable.

VARIETIES OF BIRDS:  In the second picture, you can see the reflecting glow of the lamp on Emma's face as she holds a baby chick.

This year we purchased 6 Isa Brown's--very efficient egg layers, 2 Buff Orpingtons--a bird I've always wanted to raise, and 2 Silver Lace Wyandottes--a very pretty and winter-hardy chicken.

THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THE FARM:  Just two weeks ago I purchased the nicest chicken coop you ever saw! I hope to get pictures of that up soon. We have some fence/pen repair to do, but our weather has been so cold that no one feels like doing much outdoor work yet. Just starting to warm up. This has been a tough year to think of raising baby chicks since the spring is cold and late. But I'm so glad we went and got these little birds when we did so the kids coulld take part in the chicken raising process! What a wonderful memory! Blessings, LORI